Salient
by matrixaffiliate
Summary: There's something magical about his waitress, and Al is determined to get to the bottom of it. NOT CURSED CHILD COMPLIANT! This story is from my earlier story Portent. Fluff. Albus Severus/OC. NextGen fluff. Multi-chapter. Updates every week.
1. Chapter 1

**S****alient**

**A/N: This story stems from my story Portent, and like that one this is NOT Cursed Child compliant. You have been warned. You do not need to read Portent first, this story comes before that story and we'll see how far I take it. I'll probably take it at least to where Portent is.**

**A/N: Next chapter goes up on July 20.**

**A/N: I know my posting has decreased in quantity. Life has gone crazy so I'm running on bare minimum right now. Everything should mellow back out in August, but this month will probably revolve around this story and Patient with a Saudade or Ojala chapter thrown in from time to time. Thanks for understanding!**

He was going to quit.

He was going to admit defeat and drop his classes and see if Aunt Hermione could find him someplace interesting to work for the rest of his life. Albus Potter was finished trying to make Muggle technology work around magic. It had been a pipe dream and he should have seen it as one. He'd spent a full year and a half in university trying to figure out what he was missing and nothing was working. He was wasting money and his life trying to solve something that was unsolvable and he was an idiot for thinking he was different and could figure it out.

Al shoved the ruined laptop into the duffle bag his dad converted for him, hearing it clatter as it fell to the bottom. They were only two weeks into the semester but he already had a decent amount of work to be done on top of his stupid experimenting. Al stared at the textbooks for a long moment before shaking his head. He holstered his wand beneath his shirt, grabbed his phone, and went for a walk.

It was cold, but Al was grateful for it. The freezing air around him seemed to numb his brain a bit too, giving him a momentary respite from his thoughts. He didn't pay attention to where he was walking, Al just walked. He must have looked like a crazy person as he would randomly decide to turn back and take a turn he had initially decided against. Aunt Hermione called it part of his innovative character, but Al wondered if she was mixing up the words _innovative_ and _insane_.

He'd been walking for nearly forty-five minutes when his body finally started rebelling with pain. Al ducked into the first available door hoping to warm up just enough before pushing out into the cold to freeze his brain again. But as the door shut, Al felt himself freeze for a completely different reason than the weather.

His eyes had fallen on a woman who took the breath from his lungs faster than the winter air had. She had dark mahogany colored hair pulled back and pinned into a bun. Her eyes were dark, almost black, and she was talking with an accent Al thought he had heard before but nothing like this; and he never wanted to stop hearing it.

"If it's just you, pull up a seat at the counter," the woman smiled at him. "I'll be right with you."

Al finally took a moment to look around. He had apparently walked into a small caff. A voice in his head told him that he would have called it a dive if this lovely woman hadn't been standing in it. There were five small booths and a long counter that ran nearly the length of the narrow building. Al slid onto one of the stools at the counter just as the beautiful waitress had instructed.

She came around the counter from the table that she'd just delivered their order and pulled out a pad and pen.

"What can I get you?"

Al blinked, realizing that he hadn't really thought about the fact that he was in a restaurant and therefore would need to order something to eat or drink.

"Er," he hedged trying to find a menu.

"Look up, green eyes," she chuckled, pointing her pen upward.

Al looked up to find a blackboard with the menu scrawled across it in white chalk. Al picked the first two things that looked good and in his price range.

"Peppermint tea and a spinach omelet, please."

The beauty smiled at him, "Good choices, I'll be back."

Al watched her go, and he felt something a lot like magic.

Well, that kind of magic too but specifically real magic. As the gorgeous woman walked away, Al would have sworn on Merlin's grave that he felt magic in the air. He'd spent the last few years trying to make magic and Muggle technology co-exist, and he'd become somewhat adept at sensing when magic was around him. Al felt magic when his waitress turned and walked back to the kitchen, and felt it fade as she disappeared behind the door.

Al's bad morning of experimenting was now far from his brain. He was completely focused on a new goal, getting this woman's name, and maybe her number if he was lucky.

She appeared through the door with a mug of steaming water and plate with tea bags and milk and sugar. The magic wasn't there, well the real magic wasn't but Al still had stars in his eyes for this stunning creature. So much so that he utilized advice about chatting up a girl he got from Jamie while they were both still at Hogwarts.

"Thanks," he smiled at her as she set down his drink, "I'm sure you get asked all the time," he paused, hoping she would fill in the blank with the obvious question of where she was from before throwing what Jamie called a side pass, "but where do you get your aprons?"

The woman looked at him confused for a moment before a smile took over her face and she laughed, a clear and joyous sound that made Al want to listen to it on his phone on repeat all day.

"I'm from St. John's, Newfoundland. It's a Canadian island."

Al grinned, she didn't give him her name but she told him where she was from. He decided that was progress.

"That's brilliant. I'm Al, by the way."

"Ellie," she offered him her hand before pulling back and huffing. "Sorry, my boss gets mad when I shake hands with customers, says it's a waste of time for me to keep washing my hands."

Al chuckled, "Maybe I could take you up on the handshake after your shift?"

Ellie's face turned a pretty shade of red and she made a motion like she might like to behind her hair if it wasn't pulled back.

"I'll think about it." She smiled at him before turning and heading over to one of the tables.

And the magic was back. Al was almost too distracted by the magic he felt around him to fully appreciate the figurative magic he felt with Ellie. But Al was too much of a geek to not want to solve this puzzle.

He stirred his milk and sugar into his tea while he thought through what he knew. First, Ellie was gorgeous and he definitely wanted to get to know her. Second, every time Ellie had walked away from him, he sensed that there was real magic around her. Third, it was only when her back was turned to him that he sensed it.

Ellie slipped back into the kitchen and Al determined he was just as interested in her walking away from him as he was in her walking toward him. The next time she walked away, he'd pay attention. Maybe she had some magical item?

Maybe, maybe she was a witch?

Al didn't let his brain go down that latter road. He didn't want to set expectations for her. He didn't have a problem dating Muggles. He'd dated a couple of Muggle girls in the year or so he'd been living in the Muggle world full time, granted he never felt close enough to try and figure out how to approach the bombshell of him being a wizard, but lots of people had things they didn't immediately share in a new relationship, and sometimes a relationship never developed to a point for those things to come up. He just had a bit of a huge secret along with the little things like a Star Wars obsession.

The prospect of dating a witch was sort of exciting seeing as he hadn't dated a witch since Hogwarts, let alone a witch who was living in the Muggle world as he was. That was too much to hope for.

He was pulled from his thoughts when the door to the kitchen opened and Ellie walked out with a tray of food. She delivered Al's plate last along with a shy smile.

"I work Tuesdays and Thursdays from open to close," she said quietly while wiping down a section of the counter. Al noticed that it didn't need to be cleaned, which gave him a bit of a smug feeling in his chest.

"The whole day?"

Ellie's cheeks flushed but she smiled, "This place is open from six till two, and wait staff shows up at half five and stays till usually three to clean up."

Al leaned closer to her over the counter. "Well, that's very good news because I don't have class on either of those days until after lunch."

Ellie busied herself behind the counter with filing napkin holders. "Are you at uni here too?"

Al nodded as he cut into his omelet. "What are you studying?"

"Art," Ellie sighed happily. "What about you?"

"Information Technology, Computer Science, and a minor in Computer Engineering." Al shoved a bite of omelet into his mouth and was pleasantly surprised at how good it was. He was also surprised that Ellie didn't immediately freak out at his degree choices. Even the professors called him crazy.

"There's something about you," she set the napkin holder down, "and I can't place my finger on it, but there's something about you that's not like most blokes who come in here."

Al held her gaze, forcing his eyes not to drop to her lips because, Merlin, this woman was going to be the death of him and he'd known her for less than thirty minutes.

"There's something magical about you too."

She blushed and Al wondered if he'd dropped enough of a hint. How does one go about asking if another is a witch?

The order bell rang and Ellie started before winking at Al and walking back toward the kitchen.

Al focused on the magic that radiated from her retreating form, trying to sense what it was. The magic was focused around her head, he realized, but there was nothing out of the ordinary about her head. Her dark hair was twisted up into a bun and...

He just caught sight of it as she walked behind the door, a long white hair pin stick. Whatever _that_ was, it wasn't Muggle-made.

And a part of Al's brain wanted it to be a wand.

Everything about how it felt made Al believe it was a wand. It was shorter than his, probably nine inches, but while his wand looked like a stick, the pin in Ellie's hair looked to be a piece of artwork. It wasn't quite white, more of an ivory color, and Al thought he saw what looked like designs carved into it.

It was beautiful.

Al finished his omelet, watching the kitchen door for Ellie to reappear, though he had no idea what he was going to say.

Before that little technicality could come to mind, Ellie appeared with his bill.

"So, if you're ever in the market for an omelet, you should come back." She didn't look at him as she busied herself with straightening the salt and pepper shakers.

"I'm a big fan of omelets," Al handed her his card. As his brain was about to kick him for such a pathetic comment, Ellie turned around to the cash register and Al got a full view of what he thought of now as her magical hairpin.

It was definitely magical, and he'd been right that there were designs carved into it. They looked a little bit like runes, but nothing like what he'd studied at Hogwarts. It was striking in her dark hair and Al briefly was tempted to ask if he could hold it. But Ellie turned around with his card and receipt.

"Then I guess I'll see you the next time you want another omelet." As she handed back his card, her fingers brushed against his and Al resisted the urge to grab her hand.

"Brilliant," was all Al managed to say before Ellie pulled away and Al was left wishing that it wasn't quite so cold out. He was no longer interested in numbing his brain. He was interested in keeping it functioning so he could figure out how to ask Ellie out on a date and maybe find out if she was a witch.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Can I just say thank you to all of you who were interested in my very obscure ship?! Because I am just so very grateful!**

**A/N: Next chapter goes up August 3rd (it could go up the second but my plans aren't final yet).**

Al quickly shoved his experiments into their bag and grabbed his things. He was running late today, but he had tried something that seemed like it could work and had lost track of time going down what had ended up being a pointless rabbit hole.

It had been three weeks since he had met Ellie, and Al had felt like maybe he was making more progress in his experiments than he was with getting Ellie to trust him. Al brooded a bit about that as he walked the five minutes to get his omelet and his few moments interaction with the most amazing woman he'd ever had the chance to lay eyes on.

Only when he walked in the door, he didn't lay eyes on her.

Al sighed and took his normal seat at the bar watching the kitchen door expectantly. He was very confused when the door opened and rather than seeing Ellie, an older woman strode out and began making her way to him.

"What can I get you?" She pulled out her pad and Al stammered a moment before repeating his usual order.

"Be right up," the woman moved to refill a patron's drink before going back into the kitchen.

Al pulled out his phone to check the day. Did he perhaps think it was Tuesday when it was in fact Monday? His phone assured him it was really Tuesday... Perhaps Ellie would come out momentarily?

But the older woman seemed to be the only one serving. Al ate his food, thrown off by the lack of consistency, and his mind raced to find the reason for it.

Was she ill? Did she have to change her schedule? If she did, why wouldn't she have said something when he was there Thursday? Or had something happened in the four days that had passed and had she needed to return to Canada? Had she thought to leave him a note? Maybe if he asked, that would signal the woman to pass on a message?

It was completely outside of Al's comfort zone, but the thought that something had happened to Ellie was enough to push him over the edge.

"Beg your pardon," Al said to the woman as he handed her his card, "but where is Ellie today?"

"Eliza?" The woman shook her head. "Silly girl got called yesterday to have some paintings put up in some building today and so she begged to have us switch her shift. I told her I'd handle it."

"Thank you," Al took his card back and nodded to the woman. "Have a good rest of your day."

Al had his phone out before he hit the door as he searched for art galleries that might possibly have an artist named Eliza or Ellie in them. He should have tried finding out her last name but that was probably pushing things into the creepy stalker phase more than he already was as he scoured the internet.

When his internet searches came up with nothing, he changed course from his flat to the university. Maybe he could talk to someone in the art department?

That had required more internet searching, as Al realized he had absolutely no idea where the art buildings were. Then he had to scour their university page to figure out who might be the right person to ask. He settled on three professors and then tried to think up a plausible story. Finally settling on his lie, he approached the first professor's open door.

"Excuse me," he tapped lightly on the door frame.

Professor Mirdha looked up from her computer and smiled, "How can I help you?"

Al took a deep breath, "I'm looking for a particular student to do a commission piece. My mum likes a certain style of painting and when I explained to a friend what I wanted painted they mentioned a painting by an artist named Eliza they'd seen that would match. My friend didn't recall her last name though so I thought I'd ask around here and see if I could find her and see if she's interested."

Professor Mirdha laughed, "I know exactly who you're talking about." She stood and moved to a filing cabinet, rummaging through before pulling out a small canvas.

"I assume this is the painting your friend saw, we had a select few student pieces on display not too long ago."

Al felt the air in his lungs get lodged in his throat. The painting was of a bear, but as Professor Mirdha moved in the light, it switched between being a black bear and a white bear. Ellie had even managed to paint the faces in a way that melded the two facial structures, tricking the mind into pulling the correct features out based on the color it saw more of on the bear.

"It's amazing," Al resisted the urge to reach out and take the painting from the woman holding it.

"You're in luck, Eliza was asked to showcase a few paintings in a gallery this week, I believe she set up today and should still be there." Professor Mirdha wrote in loopy handwriting on a sticky note before handing it to him. "This is the gallery, even if she's not there, she is supposed to have her cards there and those will have her preferred contact information on them."

"Thank you," Al looked down at the address before jumping at the sound of the clock bells chiming.

He glanced at his watch and nearly had a panic attack. He was going to be late for class if he didn't run.

After finding a secluded spot he summoned his books and then booked it to his first Tuesday class. But he might as well have not gone for how much he got out of it. His eyes kept straying to the sticky note stuck to the back of his phone case.

"Al," Craig kicked his foot, "Come on mate, I'm not letting you have my notes if you don't even try to pay attention."

Al shook himself and tried to focus again on Professor Randal's lecture, but the sticky note was like a siren's song and he kept going back to the major question burning through him.

Should he go to the gallery?

At the end of class, Craig pulled out his phone and started taking pictures of his notes. "It's a good thing we're friends because if I didn't know better I'd say you've lost your marbles."

Al sighed as his phone lit up with Craig's texts. "I'm just distracted today. I'll be alright by Thursday."

Craig shook his head, "You've been a bit off for the last month, today is just worse than most days. What's going on?"

"Nothing that's really all that interesting," Al dodged, hoping to get his friend off the scent.

"If I didn't know better," Craig paused and squinted at Al. Then his eyes went wide, "I bet you have!"

Al shook his head and let out a nervous chuckle, "What are you on about?"

Craig nudged him with his elbow, "I think the question I should be asking you is _who_ are _you _on about, eh?"

Al shouldered his bag and headed for his next class, "What do you mean?"

Craig waggled his eyebrows, "I mean that you've met someone. You're completely off your game like I was when I got my first girlfriend in A-levels."

"I don't have a girlfriend," Al said it with just a bit too much bitterness in his voice and immediately regretted it.

"Ah, so you have met someone and you haven't managed to make the right move on her!" Craig's excitement mirrored his excitement from figuring out how to securely lock down a database last year he and Al had built while the rest of their class struggled to build the database itself.

"I bet I can help you," Craig grabbed his arm to stop him at the point they usually parted for their separate classes.

"I don't think so," Al shook his head carefully. Craig wasn't really into building relationships at this point in his life, and Al was _only _interested in that when it came to Ellie.

"Just listen," Craig shook his head, "If you want the girl to like you, first make sure she knows you like her."

Al sighed, "Thanks, Craig. I'll see you tomorrow in class."

Craig nodded, "Make sure you focus, I can't help you in the hardware realm."

Al flipped him off but laughed as they parted ways and he moved on to the next class, forcing himself not to let his mind drift for too long to the gallery address currently in his pocket.

It wasn't until after he'd grabbed dinner with his IT study group that Al finally had a chance to decide if he was going to go to the gallery or not.

He sat with the address opened on his Uber app, sorting through all the options.

If he went, and she was there, he'd have to explain how he tracked her down, and the more Al went over what he'd done to get the gallery address, the more he felt like it came out of a True Crime episode. But if he didn't go, then he'd agonize over not seeing her and not seeing her paintings. If the one he saw of hers was any indication, he would be missing out on seeing something incredibly special.

After nearly an hour of going back and forth, Al finally bit the bullet and requested the ride.

The gallery was small, and according to the sign on the door, Al only had about fifteen minutes before they closed. The curator smiled warmly and directed him to Ellie's paintings in the far corner. There were five in total. Four of them were paintings of wildlife in habitats that Al guessed were of her home in St. John's, but one of them was of a beautiful woman. She looked very similar to Ellie, but her skin was darker and where Al had only ever seen Ellie's hair up, this woman's hair fell long around her shoulders. But what caught Al's eye was what was in the woman's hand.

A wand.

The very hairpin that was always pinned up in Ellie's hair was painted in this woman's hand, held in a way that only someone who had held a wand could paint it.

The woman held the wand over a fire, and the picture glowed with a second light, a light that Al was sure came from whatever spell the woman was casting in Ellie's painting. He wondered if the painting was a magical one. Trying to look as though he was examining it closer, Al stepped right up to the woman and whispered.

"Your wand is a work of art."

He held his breath, hoping the woman would move, or answer, or do anything, but the picture remained perfectly still. He stepped even closer before trying again.

"I too am a wizard," he tried again, but the woman did not move.

Al sighed. He should have known better than to think Ellie would paint a wizarding painting to put in a Muggle gallery, assuming she was capable of painting a wizard painting at all. He thanked the curator and picked up one of Ellie's cards on his way out. After requesting his ride, he looked down at the card in his hand, admiring the perfect otter pup she had chosen to use. He turned it over and looked down at her name, Eliza Battiste. Her phone number sat directly under her name.

Al shook his head as he climbed into the car that pulled up; if anything happened to Ellie he was going to be suspect number one.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Next chapter goes up August 17th! =D**

Al was useless on Wednesday, and his heart wasn't in his experiments Thursday morning. He was too wrapped up in his head, trying to decide how to handle how much of a stalker he had been and whether or not to admit it to Ellie or to pretend nothing had happened.

When it was time to leave, he still hadn't decided.

Walking into the caff, Al's nerves calmed for an instant when Ellie turned and smiled at him.

"I missed you on Tuesday," he blurted out before he could think better of it.

Ellie blushed and smiled broadly. "I...thank you."

They stood there a moment before Ellie cleared her throat, "Usual?"

"Er, yeah, thanks," Al took his regular seat at the bar and Ellie set his tea down in front of him with a small smile. He watched as Ellie went back into the kitchen, her hairpin catching his attention as it always did.

Al sighed as the door closed behind her. This was getting ridiculous. He was getting to the point where he was bordering on stalking her. And he was starting to question if he was only doing it because she was maybe, potentially, a witch.

No. A voice in his head snapped at him. He wasn't only into her because he suspected she was a witch. Ellie was beautiful inside and out. He wanted to get to know her better and hear all about growing up in St. John's. He wanted to hold her hand. He wanted to know if her lips were as soft as they looked. And fine, yes he wanted to know if she was a witch too, but that wasn't going to change that he wanted to date her.

Well, he hadn't been raised by Harry and Ginny Potter and without learning a fair bit. Gryffindor courage and all that aside, if he learned anything from his parents, it was that you had to go out and get what you wanted, whether that was destroying Voldemort or playing professional Quidditch or in Al's case, getting a date with his waitress, you had to go get it. Granted he could probably ask his parents to use their Ministry contacts and figure out if Ellie was a witch, but that felt far more terrifying than simply asking the woman to dinner. Al knew what his family was capable of when romantic entanglements became a family affair. He'd played a key role in the orchestration of playing Jamie and Allie. So no, he really didn't want to get his family involved until he absolutely had to.

So when Ellie walked back out with his omelet, he decided to live up to the Potter reputation.

"Would you like to grab dinner with me?"

The plate clattered a little as Ellie nearly dropped it in front of him. "I...I…"

The order bell rang and Ellie looked momentarily torn before giving him a regretful look and leaving to grab the order.

Al wanted to die.

He ate his omelet in five large bites and downed his tea, burning his tongue and throat in the process. He needed to get out of there. He'd hand her his card, assure her he wouldn't bother her again and go find a hole to die in.

Ellie came out and delivered the order before heading for Al.

"Sorry," he handed her his card. "I didn't realize you weren't interested. I won't bother you anymore."

Ellie bit her lip, "Al, it isn't that. I, I just…"

"You don't owe me an explanation, Ellie." Al cut her off.

She looked like she might say more but apparently decided against it. Ellie turned to the cash register and ran his card.

Al tried to smile when she handed him his card and receipt. "You're lovely. Thanks for letting me get to know you a bit."

Ellie looked mildly distraught and Al kicked himself.

"Don't worry about this, really, it's fine."

Ellie nodded but she still looked like she wanted to say something but couldn't.

Al stood and moved to leave before pausing.

Al turned around.

He had nothing to lose, right?

He gestured to her hair and this time he did smile. "Your wand is beautiful."

Ellie went very still and stared at him with wide eyes. Al congratulated himself. She'd now think he was crazy and so she wouldn't worry about having hurt him. She'd be grateful to be rid of him. That was good. And he'd never come back to this place.

He walked out the door and squinted at the sun in his eyes. Craig was going to have a field day with this, but Al wasn't sure he cared. He'd spent a month trying to win over a girl, going so far as to stalk the poor thing, and she had been completely uninterested. He was an idiot.

"Al!"

Al froze.

"Al!"

Afraid he was imagining her voice, slowly he turned around.

Ellie came running up to him, her cheeks flushing in the still cold March weather. She pulled her wand from her dark hair causing it to fall in long cascading strands down her back.

Al thought she was beautiful beforehand, but he wasn't prepared for how gorgeous she was now. Her skin was slightly darker than his own, but the sunlight and her dark hair seemed to pull more hue out of her skin and made it look like she was glowing. Her eyes were like honey and he could see flecks of gold reflecting against the sunshine. He was so awestruck that he didn't notice her wave her wand just slightly. He jumped when a blue light began to shine from its end.

"I thought you were a Muggle." Ellie's voice was quiet as the light faded. "And I, I didn't know what to do."

Al finally managed to come to himself, "Why would it have mattered? If I was a Muggle?"

Ellie bit her lip, "I, I, the last Muggle I dated, he thought I was crazy when I tried to tell him, and he well, I was almost deported. So I…"

Al closed the distance between them and gently took her hand. Ellie went silent and looked down at their hands.

"I'm sorry."

Ellie looked up and Al found that every fiber in his being wanted to lean down and kiss her. His brain reminded him she was already skittish enough though, and somehow he restrained himself.

"I'm sorry I made things hard on you. I suspected, hoped really, you were a witch since the first day we met."

"Really?"

Al smiled and stepped closer, maneuvering her hand a bit more securely into his own.

"Really. So would you be willing to go to dinner tomorrow?"

Ellie smiled wide and Al was pretty sure she was going to kill him looking like this.

"Here," she slipped a card into his free hand. "This has my cellphone number on it. I need to get back. I'll be in enough trouble as it is."

She squeezed Al's hand before releasing it. Al looked down at the card in his hand and suddenly remembered the problem he had been mulling over the last two days.

He now had two of Eliza Battiste's artist cards.

"I'll text you, tonight," Al pushed down the guilt that climbed up into his throat and smiled at Ellie.

Ellie had stepped back, but she looked up at him and bit her lip. Her brow furrowed a moment before she stepped forward and pressed up on her toes to place a kiss on his cheek.

Al nearly turned to capture her lips with his but thought better of it.

Ellie pulled back slowly and smiled at him. "Can't wait."

"Me either," Al felt far warmer than he should for the temperature around them.

Ellie winked at him and slowly began walking back toward her work. She gave him a small wave before disappearing behind the door.

Al looked down at the artist's card in his hand and pulled out his wallet to look at the one he obtained by stalking her. He had no choice now. Dinner the next night needed to be seasoned with a healthy dose of honesty.

Shite.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Two Chapters this week, because I'm a little obsessive about setting a precedent for chapter length in stories and keeping to it. I'm weird, I know. ;)**

Al had spent the rest of the day freaking out because he had a date with Ellie while also freaking out that he had to tell her how he'd sort of, basically, stalked her.

Craig had high-fived him when Al admitted he had a date with "the mystery girl" and then proceeded to tease him mercilessly. If Al hadn't owed Craig for the two weeks worth of notes he would have told him where he could stick it.

But now, checking over his perfectly clean flat - so he stress cleans, don't judge - Al was definitely stuck in the camp of freaking out because he needed to be honest with Ellie tonight. And he wouldn't blame her one bit if she freaked out at him. The more he thought about it the more ashamed of himself he felt.

He left for the restaurant feeling mildly sick.

Great.

Al made it to the restaurant just ahead of Ellie and he very nearly fainted from lack of oxygen after seeing her walk up.

Her hair cascaded down her back with a plait running through part of it, and for the first time, Al saw her in something other than her uniform. He realized her uniform had hidden her really, and seeing her in something that Dominique would call _tres chic _was jaw-dropping. He was suddenly very grateful he hadn't seen Ellie outside of work before now. There's no way he would have tried to approach her if she'd looked like this the first time he saw her.

"Your face leads me to believe that I clean up well enough."

Ellie slid her arm around his and Al immediately liked the way it made him want to stand a bit straighter.

"More than enough. Merlin, Ellie, you're gorgeous."

Ellie blushed but her smile was rather smug.

"You clean up nicely, yourself."

Al hoped that the dim light kept her from seeing his blush. "Should we go in?"

"Please," Ellie shivered against him. "I thought I dressed warm enough but I definitely didn't."

Al did his best to channel Jamie and Teddy as he tried to casually take his arm out of Ellie's and move it to wrap around her. He held his breath, sure that she'd step out of his embrace. To his happy surprise, Ellie stepped closer into his side. He chose to ignore the part of him that questioned if it was only because she was cold.

Merlin, he was hopeless.

They didn't have to wait long for a table, and Al managed to keep the conversation flowing by asking Ellie questions, several questions. He needed to not be talking because his guilty conscience was eating at him.

Once they were seated and had placed their orders, however, Al couldn't manage to keep a neutral face.

"Is everything alright?" Ellie frowned. "You look, well I'm not sure what but it doesn't look happy."

Al swallowed hard and pushed a hand into his hair. "Er, well, yes and no. I'm great in that I'm so, _so_ glad to be here with you."

Ellie blushed but smiled. "I'm glad to be here with you too."

"But," Al hesitated, "I, I should tell you something. And, and I, well, I'll totally understand if you decide to leave..."

"What are you talking about?" Ellie's smile faded from her face.

Al sighed and pulled out both of her artist cards he had, laying them on the table.

"I gave you two cards?"

"No," Al looked down at the little otter pup, realizing it would probably be the last time he saw it, "when you weren't at work on Tuesday, I asked the waitress where you were because my brain started to panic that you might have gone home to Canada. The waitress said you had some artwork selected for a gallery and so when I left, I started trying to find the gallery. When I couldn't find anything online, I changed tactics. I went to the art department, lied to one of the professors, and managed to get them to tell me where the gallery was. Then I went to the gallery and on my way out, took one of your cards."

Al was honestly too scared to look up at Ellie, so instead, he kept his eyes focused on the little prints of her painted otter pup.

"That sounds pretty stalker-ish," she said it cautiously, and it felt like a knife in his chest.

"Oh, believe you me, I've kicked myself for that a million times now."

"Al," Ellie sighed, "Why didn't you just wait till Thursday?"

That was a good question. One he had to think about. Why didn't he simply wait when he knew she was physically still in the UK and everything was fine?

"Because," he finally looked up at her, "because I had been trying for a month to get you to trust me, and I guess I felt like nothing was working because you were still guarded - which I totally understand now. So I justified it by saying I was getting to know you, or at least more about you. It's no excuse," Al pulled a hand over his face, "and I was serious yesterday when I thought you weren't interested. I was going to leave you alone. I just, Ellie, you're," Al looked down at the cards again, "you're so captivating and amazing and I want to know everything about you. I want to go to Canada and see where you grew up. I want to watch you paint. I want to see you away from work. I want to ask you so many questions. And I want to give all of that to you too. I want to do this right and I'm sorry I screwed it up right at the beginning but I promise I'll keep your boundaries from now on if you'll give me a chance."

Ellie sighed and Al looked up as she ran her finger against the condensation of her water glass. "I guess I can see where you were coming from. But if we're going to do this, I want a guarantee that you're not going to willfully go behind my back when I'm not ready to share."

Al nodded, "I promise if you don't want to tell me when I ask I'll back off and wait."

Ellie bit her lip and stared down at her glass. Al wished he had something that could reassure her, something that would make her feel more at ease. Then a terrifying thought struck him. One so terrifying that he recoiled from it.

But it also felt like a perfect solution. One that might give Ellie the piece of mind she needed to trust him. So Al braced himself before pulling out his pen and flipping over one of Ellie's cards.

"Here," he wrote on the card before handing it across the table, "if you feel at any point that I've crossed a line, text either of these numbers. They'll get back to you before they go to bed."

"Who are Harry and Ginny?" Ellie looked down at the card confused.

"Have you noticed the last name on my card when I pay for my breakfast?"

"You're kidding," Ellie's eyes were wide, "you're not, no way, holy shit…"

"Dad's capable of putting me in prison if he wants to and I definitely want to stay on Mum's good side, but believe me, the thought of losing out on getting to know you is plenty motivation to keep my promise."

Ellie looked up from the card and grinned, "I'm not sure if I'm more surprised that Harry Potter has a cell phone or that you're willing to give me your parents' contact info to prove you'll keep your word."

"So you'll give me another chance?"

"I think you've persuaded me," she nodded and slipped the card into her wallet, "but don't think I won't use this."

Al felt like he could fly and he was sure the look on his face had gone goofy.

"I won't forget it." Then he tentatively reached across the table and took her hand, "Thank you."

Ellie smiled, "Thank you for being honest with me."

The waiter appeared with their food and Al reluctantly let go of Ellie's hand. But she was still smiling at him, and Al thought that maybe, maybe she was just as happy about being on this date with him as he was to be on this date with her.


	5. Chapter 5

They ate in silence for a few minutes before Ellie asked a question that Al was very accustomed to answering.

"What was it like growing up famous?"

Al chuckled, "Thankfully, I'm not famous. Dad and Mum are. But it was still weird. My first day at Hogwarts, a reporter wrote a gossip column saying that I'd come to her from the future claiming that Voldemort had tried to come back through an illegitimate daughter, and I had stopped her."

Ellie laughed, "That's crazy."

"Yeah, but for the most part everyone is focused on Mum and Dad, less on me and my brothers and sister."

"So we'd be safe in Diagon Alley?"

Al hesitated, "Probably not. When my brother Ted was a teen that same reporter followed him and his now-wife around at the World Cup to try and stir up controversy about Dad and his friends. The rest of us have since tried to lie low."

Ellie blinked, "I thought your dad saved your country, and probably the rest of the Wizarding world subsequently. Why on Earth would reporters want to drag him through the dirt?"

Al shrugged, "Mum always says it's because they're jealous. Grandpa Weasley says it's because small minds have to occupy themselves somehow. I don't know, but I do know I like being a nobody in the Muggle world."

"So there are no benefits to being the son of famous war heroes, and a famous Quidditch star?" Ellie chuckled.

"I guess the lifetime Harpies' tickets Mum gets," Al tried to think of anything else, "And seeing Dad on Chocolate Frog cards is pretty cool. But that's about it. Mostly, we get left alone, as long as we're good and boring."

"But in the Muggle world, you don't have to be good and boring?" Ellie smirked at him and Al rather liked the way his chest warmed at her teasing.

"I tend towards good and boring anyway."

"I disagree," Ellie leant closer across the table, "I find you anything but boring."

Al suddenly found it hard to swallow.

"Why are you really living in the Muggle world, Al?"

Al took a large gulp of his water before breathing deeply. He was so thoroughly gone for this woman. It was sort of pathetic but, Merlin, he didn't care.

"I, I'm trying to solve something," Al took another drink, willing himself to stop acting like a nervous little git.

"Solve something?" Ellie frowned, "Like a mystery?"

"No, more like a puzzle," Al hesitated. "Are you sure you want to hear about this? My brothers assure me this is boring and my sister once told me it was definitely not dating conversation."

Ellie laughed, "I wouldn't have asked if I wasn't willing to risk it. Tell me about your puzzle, maybe I can help."

Al had to temper his excitement. She was willing to listen to him, not geek out with him.

"So, I don't know how much you've tried to mix the Muggle world with the Wizarding world, but when you mix technology with magic the whole thing is a nightmare."

Ellie nodded, "Ruined a phone on accident that way."

"Right," Al nodded excitedly, "so as a teenager I'd buy old used phones and computers and try to make them work while doing magic around them. But as I neared the halfway mark of my NEWT year, I realized I still didn't know enough to figure it out. So I badgered Aunt Hermione into helping me get into Muggle university. I figured if magic wasn't teaching me the solution, then I'd need to get a Muggle degree before I'd have a chance at solving this."

Ellie looked at him expectantly and Al sighed, "Only, I'm starting to think maybe I was wrong. I'm nearly two years in and nothing I've learned so far is making a difference."

She frowned, "Al, you do realize most of the classes that might help you are going to be starting next year or the year after, right?"

Al blinked. He actually didn't know much outside of what Aunt Hermione had told him, and she'd handled putting his classes together for him. He just followed the spreadsheet she made.

"Er, so I should have moved those classes from next year to last year?"

Ellie laughed, "No, it's just like magic, you can't learn NEWTS until you've learned OWLS."

"So I'm supposed to spend the first two years learning the basics and then I get the good stuff the second two years?"

"That's sort of simplified, but pretty accurate all the same."

"How do you know so much?"

Ellie grinned, "My mum is a Muggle. She's actually from around here. The waitress that helped you when I was gone is my mum's sister. She and my uncle own the place and offered me the job when Mum told them I'd be coming to university here."

Al's excitement bubbled beneath the surface as Ellie revealed more about herself. He loved puzzles and seeing another facet of Ellie was thrilling.

"What took your mum to Canada?"

"Mum visited St. John's after she finished A-Levels. She and Dad had a summer romance while she was there." Ellie smiled, "Mum decided to stay."

"So why did you leave?" Al pressed his luck, seeing how much more of herself she was willing to show him.

"I wanted to see the world. I love St. John's, and I want to end up back there, but I wanted to see what else was out there. This was as far as I could get with what I have, but I feel like it's been good for me." Ellie sighed, "But I do miss home."

"Benefits of the Wizarding world," Al smiled, "home is a portkey away."

"Not when you live with your Muggle aunt and uncle." Ellie gave him a sad smile. "They don't know I'm a witch, or that Dad is a wizard, or that Dad's whole family is magical. Mum says it's best that way."

Al frowned. He didn't like the way Ellie's demeanor had changed, but he didn't have answers to her problem either, and that left him feeling helpless.

He didn't like that feeling, especially not in regards to Ellie.

"Hey," Ellie tapped his foot with her own and Al looked up to see her smiling again. "Tonight's my last night in that gallery. Want to go look at my art _with me_?"

Al smiled, "Definitely."

Al decided to take an Uber from the restaurant to the gallery. He wasn't sure he knew the area well enough to Aparate without running into trouble. Ellie didn't seem to mind, at least Al hoped her holding his hand the whole ride was a good indication that she didn't mind.

Ellie smiled brightly at the lady tending the gallery that evening before pulling Al back to the small corner that held her five canvases.

"You're incredibly talented," Al stepped closer to Ellie, tentatively interlacing his fingers with hers. He tried not to sigh in relief when she squeezed his hand.

"Thank you."

"Have you ever painted with magic?" Al asked, remembering his silly attempt to talk to the painting of the old woman.

Ellie sighed, "Yes, but it's different. Painting with magic takes a lot of the process away from you. You really can end up with the painting dictating to you. Not that it doesn't feel like that happens in Muggle painting too, but…"

She frowned, and Al watched as she worked out what she wanted to say. She was really pretty when she was thinking.

"You know how technology to wizards who have never interacted with Muggles comes off as weird or a trick? Well, I can paint things the Muggle way that can feel like magic but aren't."

"Your bear," Al nodded. "It was a black bear and a polar bear depending on where my eye focused."

"Exactly!" Ellie nodded excitedly. "I love that I can make magic happen without a wand. And I want to get better at it. I want to show that there's Wizarding magic, but that there's magic in the Muggle world too. Artists and inventors and people who innovate new and amazing things are magical, just in a different way from the people who use wands."

Al grinned down as Ellie gave her impassioned little speech. She was so right. He'd learned as much having spent the last two years living in the Muggle world. Craig, for example, was a wizard of computer coding. He really could make a computer do almost anything. And Al's goal to merge Muggle technology and magic was going to show their world how right Ellie was.

"You're amazing," he suddenly realized his feet had moved closer to her. She smiled up at him with dark eyes, her lips mere inches from his.

"I think you're pretty amazing too."

Al could feel his heart beating against his ribcage as he closed the remaining space between them.

"May I…"

Ellie cut him off, pressing up on her toes and bringing her lips to his.

She started to lower down but Al followed her, maintaining the kiss as she put her feet flat on the floor. The feeling of kissing her lips was thrilling and he wanted to savor the way she made his mind quiet so completely and focus solely on her.

Al once heard his dad describe the first time kissing his mum as stepping out of time. Al didn't understand what his dad meant until this moment, in this gallery, kissing this woman, this wonderfully impassioned, beautiful woman.

After several long moments, Ellie pulled back just slightly and squeezed his hand still intertwined with hers.

"I've wanted to do that for weeks," she gave a small chuckle as her cheeks flushed with pink.

"Me too," Al ran his free hand through his hair, not sure what to do next. They stood grinning at each other like fools in the silent gallery. And if he was being honest, Al would have been content to stand there with her forever.

It was the gallery attendant that ultimately brought them back to the real world.

"Ms. Battiste," she walked up from behind them, "were about to close. Were you going to take your paintings tonight or come back and get them in the morning?"

"I can take them tonight," Ellie let go of his hand as she turned. "Just let me go grab my box."

"Excellent," the woman nodded before heading back to her post.

Ellie extended her hand out to Al, "Shall we do a bit of magic?" She asked him in a flawless imitation of his own accent.

"Merlin, you're full of surprises aren't you?" Al laughed and took her proffered hand.

"Says the man who tonight told me he's Harry Potter's son." Ellie winked at him.

She pulled him out and down a little side street where she pulled out her wand.

"Keep watch, yeah?"

Al nodded as she summoned a large box. He felt the familiar flow of magic around them as Ellie's box materialized on the pavement. When it stopped, he bent down and picked it up for her.

"I can get it," Ellie quickly held out her arms.

"I'm sure you _can_ but I'm going to ask if you _want_ to get it?" Al grinned as Ellie's arms fell back to her sides.

"When you put it like that," Ellie chuckled.

Al helped Ellie pack up her paintings before thanking the attendant and stepping back into the side street to send her paintings home again.

"So," Al pulled Ellie into his side as they returned to the pavement. "I honestly thought I'd be lucky if you stayed through dinner tonight and have nothing else planned for our evening. Anything you'd like to do?"

Ellie shivered against him, "I'm actually working tomorrow because I missed Tuesday. So we should plan to see each other after my shift if you're not busy and then take me home so I'm not completely useless."

Al experienced the most bizarre combination of feeling both excited and disappointed at the same time. He didn't really want the night to end yet, but his heartbeat on overdrive thinking about seeing Ellie again outside of her work.

"How about I pick you up at 4? We can decide what we'd like to do then?"

Ellie grinned as her teeth chattered, "Sounds perfect."

"Here," Al threw his coat off and draped it over her shoulders. "Don't you have a warmer coat?"

"Of course I do," Ellie snuggled back into his side. "But I was concerned about making sure I looked pretty tonight and that doesn't usually include synthetic down coats with windbreaker covers."

Al laughed, "Ellie, I thought you were the most gorgeous woman I had ever seen when you were in your work uniform. If you'd looked like this when I first met you I probably would have been so tongue-tied I would have walked right back out the door in shame for even attempting to talk to you."

Ellie laughed and pulled him down another empty side street.

"Don't be silly, it's not like you aren't good looking."

Al liked how that felt, to be called attractive. It wasn't something he really thought of himself as, but Ellie thinking he was made him want to hold his head a little higher.

He wasn't sure what to say, so he kissed her instead.

While their first kiss had been soft and tentative, this one was more confident on both their parts. He pulled her into him, wrapping his arms around her waist. She linked her arms around his neck, pressing herself into him and causing his jacket to fall off her shoulders and pool around her waist where his arms held her close. He gently ran his tongue against her and smiled when she sighed into him, parting her lips to give him entrance. When her tongue reached out to his, Al had to exercise all his self-control not to Aparate them to his flat on the spot.

"Ellie," he whispered as he continued to kiss her.

Her reply was a soft moan which almost did him in.

"We should get you home because I'm losing the will power to keep this appropriate."

She smirked against him. Apparently, she was rather pleased with what she could do to him. Which, unfortunately, or perhaps, fortunately, ended up being even more arousing.

Ellie stepped back before he could decide.

She handed him back his jacket before taking his hand and turning. Al felt the familiar sensation of being pulled through space before his feet hit the pavement of another side street.

"Just this way," Ellie tugged on his hand and led him out to the main street.

"Wait," Al took a moment to get his bearings, "isn't your work just over there?"

Ellie laughed, "Yeah, my aunt and uncle didn't want to live very far from it."

It was only a few yards more before Ellie stopped in front of a door and pulled her key from her coat pocket.

"Thanks for not giving up on me." Ellie smiled up at him.

"Thanks for giving me another chance." Al closed the distance between them and pulled her close. "Tomorrow we'll do something warmer."

"Warmer is good," she snuggled closer to him.

"Anything with you is good," he rested his forehead against hers.

"So tomorrow?" She tilted her head up just slightly.

"I can't wait," and he kissed her.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Now that Patient and it's 5K+ word chapters are done, Salient gets weekly updates! See you all Saturday, Sept 7th!**

Al had spent all morning Saturday powering through his homework. He managed to finish it all and get a bit ahead before noon, then he moved from school work to cleaning his flat again. He finished cleaning it, then cleaned it a second time, and then realized he didn't have anything planned for the date yet.

And in his panic, he could only think of one thing he wanted to do. But it felt weird and on that same wavelength as stalking her had.

Al wanted to watch Ellie paint.

_Not in a creepy way!_ He reasoned in his head.

There's something about seeing someone doing what they love, in their element, that absolutely fascinated Al. He reasoned it probably started with watching his parents have Seeker scrimmages over the back lawn when he was little. It was only reinforced on the rare occasion he got to watch his dad work on new defense spells, and the consistent opportunity to watch his mum write her articles. You can see a whole new side of a person when you watch them doing their passion, and Al was keen to see every side of Ellie she might be willing to show him.

He passed his phone back and forth between his hands, trying to convince himself to just have her come over and watch Star Wars or some other safe and semi-normal date activity. But his mind was obsessing and Al couldn't get it to stop.

"Just text her and ask," he told himself. "Worst that happens is she says no."

Or calls Mum.

Shite.

Al took a deep breath. He was overreacting. He just needed to approach the question in a not creepy way. Word it better. He could do that.

He opened his text messages

**Al:** Hi Ellie. I'm excited to see you :) What do you think of starting out our date by letting me see some of your other pieces? I'd love to see something you're working on right now.

He read the text twenty times before finally hitting send. He wanted to be sure it didn't sound like he was being weird because he usually came off as weird...at least that's what a lot of people had told him.

He agonized about that a bit while he waited for his phone to chime with her response.

After an eternity of five minutes, it did.

**Ellie:** Sure, I know just the one to show you too! See you in thirty minutes?

Al let out an explosive breath. He wasn't sure how he'd done it, but he had somehow managed to not come off as a stalker, and he felt like flying.

**Al:** Can't wait. See you in thirty.

Al managed to sit still all of thirty seconds before he started to fidget. In order to keep himself from stress cleaning (again), and to make some attempt at clearing his mind, he decided to go on a long walk before walking to Ellie's.

The walk was good. It threatened to rain but thankfully didn't. And Al managed to push his mind over to other things like his experiments and classes. So by the time he was standing in front of Ellie's door, Al felt halfway normal again.

Then Ellie opened the door.

Damn this woman was hell-bent on doing him in. Or maybe he just needed to grow accustomed to her in clothes other than her work clothes? He liked the implications of the second option.

"Hi!" She grinned up at him and Al wasted no time in closing the distance between them to kiss her.

Kissing Ellie was its own kind of magic and Al loved it. It was the kind of magic that trickled down his spine and quieted his mind. It was the kind of magic that made charms and transfiguration feel like parlor tricks and sleight of hand.

"Hi," he whispered against her when she pulled back to take a deep breath.

"Hi," she giggled, "Want to come in?"

He nodded against her forehead, "Only a lot."

She reached down and took his hand and winked at him. "Then follow me, Mr. Potter."

Al swallowed, he kind of liked how she said Potter, like each letter deserved to be said. But it still put his mind on his parents. "Mr. Potter is my dad, El."

"It's you too, silly," Ellie laughed as she led him up the steps.

"Yeah, but I think of my dad when I hear it." Al looked around as she led him through another door and into her aunt and uncle's sitting room.

"Well, then remind yourself that it's me saying it and not anyone else." She winked at him as she pulled him up another staircase.

"That helps," Al chuckled as his nose picked up the smell of something odd.

Ellie led him down a narrow corridor and opened a door to what had to be her room.

There was a large table that took up the majority of the small space littered with paint splatters and three table easels each holding a half-finished canvas. A folding chair was similarly covered in paint. Tubs were under the table full of paint tubes and canvases - both finished and new. The only other piece of furniture in the tight space was her small bed pushed up against the other wall, and Al was sure he noticed paint stains on her pillowcase.

He also realized the smell had been coming from her room.

"Is that the paint I smell?" He noticed her room didn't have a window, which he didn't think suited her at all.

"The varnish, actually," she picked up her wand from her bed and sent a wave of fresh air around them. "I just finished varnishing this one." She pointed to an open tub under the table where a painting of a dock reaching into a body of water sat.

"It's beautiful," Al grinned, resisting the urge to reach out and touch it.

"But you wanted to see something I was working on," she moved to the easels on the table.

Al nodded and came to stand beside her. It was only then that he noticed the three canvases had the same color scheme.

"I can't tell what it's going to be, but are they a set?"

Ellie nodded, "They're a set, and they're in the ugly stage right now."

"Ugly stage?" Al laughed as he wrapped a hand around her waist.

Ellie leaned into him and Al grinned like an idiot. "Some mediums look beautiful from start to finish, like watercolor. Others, like acrylic, look awful for the first eighty percent of the painting before they start to look like something might be salvageable, and it isn't until the last ten percent or so that the painting looks beautiful."

Al chuckled, "So these are acrylic?"

Ellie nodded against his shoulder.

"Do you only paint in acrylic?"

"No, those books," she pointed to a tub under the table, "are all the watercolors I've done since I moved here." She pointed to another tub, "And these are all oil paintings."

"What about those three tubs?" Al pointed to the last three tubs big enough for paintings.

"Those are acrylic paintings."

"So you obviously prefer acrylic," Al chuckled.

Ellie smiled up at him, "I guess I do."

Al held her gaze for a moment, loving that her smile was directed at him.

"So what will these three be?"

Ellie's smile went just a touch sad, "They're home."

"St. John's?" Al pulled her a bit closer, determined to ease the sadness out of her smile.

"And all around the island. My dad and my grandma have a special connection with the land and nature. They took Mum and me all around Newfoundland while I was growing up."

"I bet it was brilliant."

Ellie sighed, looking back at the three canvases. "It's the best sort of magic."

Al held her, not sure how to dissolve the melancholy that had fallen so quickly. Ellie reached out and touched the closest canvas, and Al had an idea.

"Why not finish them?"

"Oh, Al, that'll take me a few hours." Ellie laughed.

"Alright," he pulled her chair out for her and threw his coat on her bed. "This is better than sitting on my couch watching Star Wars together."

"You, you really want to watch me paint? I warn you I'm no Bob Ross."

Al chuckled, "I have no idea who that is, but I honestly believe he can't paint half as well as you do."

"Al," Ellie hedged, looking uncertain.

He pulled her into him and kissed her softly before pulling back a fraction, "Paint, El."

"Do I earn kisses for finishing paintings," she murmured against him before pushing forward and kissing him again.

"You don't earn kisses, El," he smiled, "you get to experience how much will power I have at not simply kissing you all day, every day."

Ellie laughed, her broad smile breaking their kiss completely.

"Now paint," Al grinned and sat on her bed to remove his shoes.

Ellie was nervous at first, her movements jerky and she fumbled with brushes and paint. But Al grinned when her brush hit paint. Her very posture changed as she zoned in, painting through this 'ugly stage'. And Al sat on her bed and watched as she worked. It was amazing to see how masterfully she handled her materials. Moving between the three canvases with each bright color she squeezed out of white tubes smeared in paint. He zoned in with her, mesmerized as the images began to break through the paintings.

Al nearly jumped out of his skin when someone knocked on the door.

"Eliza," a vaguely familiar voice called out.

Al watched Ellie as she came out of her trance, looking much like a little girl being woken early from a nap.

"Yes, Aunt Susan?" Ellie didn't sound like herself, and Al frowned.

The door opened and the woman who'd been his waitress the day Ellie had been set up in the gallery came in.

"Eliza," she paused, "oh dear girl, please tell me you did _not_ make this poor boy sit here and watch you paint."

Al felt outraged at Susan's words and opened his mouth to say so but Ellie beat him to speaking.

"We, I, he wanted to see what home looked like."

"And you have plenty of pictures on your phone, I'm sure." Susan shook her head. "I'm going to throw some dinner together, will the two of you be joining us?"

"No," Al spoke before Ellie could. "I've made other arrangements."

Susan squinted at him, "Oh, you're the boy who asked after Ellie a few days ago."

"That's me," Manners be damned. Al wanted to erect a brick wall between this woman and Ellie.

"Thanks, Aunt Susan," Al turned to see Ellie had returned the paintings.

"Of course, dear," Susan smiled at her back before turning and closing the door.

Al stared at the closed door for a moment, trying to gain control of his indignance.

"She means well," Ellie's voice seemed to seep into his anger like a stream of cold mountain water. "She thinks I'm too caught up in my art to see the real world, and that I'll end up alone and a starving artist."

Al moved from the bed to Ellie's side before kneeling next to her folding chair.

"You see the world better than she does because of your art." He ran his fingers against the paint on her hand. "I won't lie, I kind of want to yell at your aunt right now."

She laughed and leaned down to kiss him. Al would have sacrificed both knees for her to keep kissing him right there, but eventually, she pulled back.

"Thank you."

"Do you want to eat now and finish these after dinner or finish these now and eat later?" Al pressed his forehead against hers.

She glanced at her palette before looking back at him.

"Food now is good. I'm basically out of paint on my palette so I'm not going to be wasting anything. And we don't have to come back and have me paint. We can do something you like too."

Al pressed forward and kissed her briefly. "Please never think I don't like watching you do what you love."

She grinned, "I'd like to see what you love too."

Al smiled, "What's your calendar look like this week? I can always do with an extra evening experimenting."

Ellie brought a paint-smeared hand up to his face. "How about tomorrow?"

"Sounds perfect," and he kissed her.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: See you again on Saturday!**

They didn't make it back to finish the paintings, taking their time at the little restaurant before moving to a pub that had music playing that Ellie liked. By the time the band finished playing, Ellie was threatening to fall asleep against his shoulder and Al wasn't far from passing out either.

As tempting as it was to just Aparate them to his place, Al requested an Uber and relished the sleepy kisses and quiet sighs in the back seat as the car drove them to Ellie's home.

Well, her aunt and uncle's home. Al was quickly realizing that this city was not Ellie's home. This was a stop on her journey, not her final destination. He wasn't sure what to think of that yet. Al had to keep reminding himself that it had only been since Thursday that he'd been seeing Ellie like this. It was too soon to be jumping into the idea of running away to St. John's and spending his life watching Ellie paint.

Al gave himself that lecture again as he walked to Ellie's on Sunday afternoon.

When he knocked, he was surprised when it wasn't Ellie that answered.

An older man stood at the door.

"We aren't interested," he began to close the door when Al finally remembered how to speak.

"I'm here for Ellie," he put out his arm and stopped the door from closing.

The man grunted, "Wait here."

Al stood at the partially opened door, battling within himself as to whether or not he was going to go in or stand without.

Thankfully, a small package of joy wrapped in dark flowing hair and dark brown eyes with lips as sweet as ice cream came flying down the stairs.

Al immediately pulled her into him. He ignored the part of his brain pointing out that he probably felt a little too protective of Ellie. He would deal with that later.

"I'm sorry about Uncle Charlie, he's a bit of a curmudgeon." Ellie rested her head against his chest and Al kissed her hair.

"Ready to go?" Al looked around, wondering if he could just Aparate them away. It felt like it would suck away the brewing anger he felt and was trying to ignore.

"I want to show you something first," Ellie pulled him inside and Al fought against the part of him that wanted to protest.

Ellie seemed to notice and stepped into him. "I finished the paintings this morning. I want you to see them."

Al kissed her, "I definitely want to see that."

"Good," she pulled back and took his hand. "Come on, and then we can skulk away."

"Did you just say skulk?" Al laughed as the agreed and his annoyance seeped away, replaced by the lightness he'd only ever experienced with Ellie.

She winked at him and pulled him up the stairs.

She needed to stop winking at him. It was going to result in him pressing her against a wall if she didn't.

_Maybe she would like that..._

Al gave himself a mental shake and followed Ellie up to her aunt and uncle's home.

The canvases were still sitting on their easels, but rather than images peeking through the paint as they had been the day before, Al beheld windows into Newfoundland.

He looked out into a body of water that was a deep blue like he'd never seen before, lined with aspen trees and pine trees so vividly green Al wondered if he was experiencing what his mum had talked about when admiring both his and his father's eyes.

"Merlin," Al breathed, certain that if he pushed his hand out the paintings would just keep going and he'd fall right into Ellie's home.

"Do you like it?" Ellie's voice seemed somehow uncertain.

"It's the most beautiful painting I've ever seen, El." He pulled her into him and kissed her, trying to pour his admiration into it. He wanted her to know it wasn't just words for him. She really did work magic without a wand, and Al loved it.

"You know," he murmured as he kissed her, "if you painted it better than it actually is then I'm going to be incredibly disappointed when I see it in real life."

Ellie smiled against him, "Are you making plans to visit Canada?"

"I need to be," Al moved to kiss along her jaw.

When he heard Ellie's breath catch, though, he forced himself to pull back. The last thing he wanted was for Susan or Charlie to make life harder on Ellie because she was snogging in their house.

"Are you ready to head out?" He ran his hands up and down her waist.

"Yeah," Ellie smiled up at him, "You've seen mine. Now I want to see your home and your passion."

"Look in a mirror," Al's thoughts vocalized before he could stop them, but Ellie just grinned up at him and stole a quick kiss from his lips.

Merlin, he was gone for this woman!

Somehow Al maintained propriety and led them back to the pavement where he walked them hand in hand back to his flat.

"Welcome to my little place," Al pushed open his front door.

He watched as Ellie walked into his sitting room and looked around. The sitting room also served as his dining room and butted up against the small kitchen. The two doors at the back of his flat led into the bathroom and the only bedroom. It was small but it was one of the only flats they could find with a fireplace and could be connected to the floo network.

"It's great, Al," she smiled at him, "where do you experiment?"

"Back here," he took her hand and moved them to his bedroom.

His room was so different than Ellie's. Where she had no windows, he had two. Where her room was only big enough for a twin bed on one end and her art space on the other end, he had a bigger bed, a chest of drawers, a desk, and a work table for his experiments, along with a small closet. It was tight, but at least it all fit.

The differences between his space and Ellie's left him with the desire to move her in across the way, give her the space to spread out and the barrier between her and her mother's family that he so desperately wanted to create.

She pushed herself up and sat on his work table before gesturing to all his tools and equipment.

"You've already set it all out."

Al swallowed, he kind of liked Ellie sitting on his table.

"Yeah," Al pushed a hand through his hair, "I can show you what I've been working with if you'd like."

Ellie pushed his chair out with her foot, "Come and show me what you've got, Mr. Potter."

Al nearly choked on air.

Somehow he gained enough control of his limbs to move forward and sit in the chair. Pulling his wand into his hand seemed to awaken that part of his brain that lived for this, even though he wanted to throw it all in the bin half the time.

"You'll want to turn off your phone." He pulled his out and powered it down before reaching for Ellie's. "I have a box that Dad helped me enchant, blocks the magic from getting to them." Al pulled the large box out from under his work table and set their phones inside.

Then he powered on an old smartphone.

"I'm still trying to figure out what exactly about magic makes technology fail. I thought at first it was the WiFi and the cellular service that interfered, but watch this. I'll put this phone into airplane mode and make sure Bluetooth is off. It's just on at this point. But even with it not broadcasting in any way," he waved his wand, sending little red sparks out, holding the phone out so Ellie could watch the screen flicker before going black. "It kills it, and I don't get why."

"Have you tried digital watches?" Ellie asked. "The old school kind that don't do anything but tell the time?"

Al paused, "Like a smartwatch?"

"No," Ellie furrowed her brow, "it's like a regular watch but has a digital readout."

Al frowned, "I don't understand where you're going with this."

Ellie pointed her wand at the light switch and flipped the lights off and then on again.

"You didn't short circuit the lights." She pointed up at the lights with her wand. "Magic works fine around electric lights and other older electric things that run off of only wires. But digital watches have circuit boards. If they work around magic, you can start figuring out if the problem is circuit boards in general or something specific about newer technology."

Al blinked, then he stood and pulled Ellie into him, crashing his lips against hers. This was a dream, it had to be. Or maybe he died and this was heaven. He gripped Ellie's side with one hand and ran the other into her silky soft hair, sure that he was on fire as his lips explored her mouth before moving to her jawline.

"So," Ellie sighed into his ear, "are we going to go buy you a digital watch?"

"Shite," Al swore as he grinned against her skin, "you're going to do me in, El."

She giggled, "You know you want to see if I'm right."

She was right, but he also really, really wanted to keep kissing her and running his hands over her body and being completely enveloped in Ellie.

"Al," she kissed him briefly, "let's go grab that watch. We've got all the time in the world."

Merlin, he hoped she was right.

Somehow he gained enough control to step back, running his hands down her arms to take her hands in his.

"Right," he squeezed her hands, "Let's go."

They hit the pavement again and Ellie leaned over to whisper in his ear.

"You were very persuasive back there, Mr. Potter. Maybe I'll find a way to talk geeky with you more often."

Al tripped over his own feet.

Merlin, she was going to kill him!


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Early Update! I'm hoping to get in one last day of climbing in tomorrow before the snow pushes us into ski season. See you again next Saturday!**

Finding a digital watch was just a touch harder than Al originally anticipated. They ended up quite a bit further from his flat than he would have preferred in order to find one that didn't need to be shipped to him. As they walked with the setting sun from the train station back to his flat he placed an order on his phone for a pack of digital watches for the same price he'd just paid for one watch.

"Look at this," he held out his phone, "I get ten of the same watch for that price."

"The price of convenience," Ellie nodded and gave him a sympathetic smile.

Al managed to resist the impulse to kiss her, instead, opening his building door and holding it out for her.

"You know, I think if we could get the internet to work with magic it would make online shopping easier."

Ellie furrowed her brow, "It would still have to come by carrier bird, you can't summon or send items unless you can visualize exactly where it is and where it's going."

"Right," Al opened his flat door, "but what if everyone had a post box that looked exactly the same? The wizards and witches sending the items would only need to be able to visualize the box."

Ellie shook her head, "You'd still need to know where the box is."

"So we make everything visible to our own satellites and give them a satellite image of the home and its post box," Al shrugged but he couldn't keep the grin off his face as they left their coats on his sofa.

"Now you're just teasing me," Ellie laughed. "Wizards would never go for that."

Al threw the watch on his work table and pulled Ellie into him. "They ought to, heaven knows how much smarter we'd all be if we were willing to work together."

Ellie sighed, "There's that pesky International Statute of Secrecy that sort of puts a damper on all this."

Al huffed, "Yeah well ancient laws have a way of doing that."

"Ancient laws that most everyone feels are necessary," Ellie added, looking a bit sad. "But you're right, it doesn't have to be like this."

"Talk to me," Al caught her chin as it started to fall.

She hesitated a moment before leaning into him and resting her head against his chest.

"My dad and grandma tell stories of when our people all lived together, before we were scattered, and magic users were just those who'd received different responsibilities from the earth than everyone else. But then things changed."

Al realized that there was a whole nother layer to this story he wasn't understanding.

"Your people?" He echoed quietly, hoping she'd expound for him.

"What do you know about the Native Americans?" Ellie finally looked up at him.

"Not much," Al frowned.

"My family is part of the Miꞌkmaq tribe." There was pride in her voice as she smiled up at him. "Magic is viewed differently and always has been. Before colonization, we treated magic the same way we'd treat any talent. Some people are gifted with the ability to fish while others can make objects move with their minds. We all benefit our community in different ways."

Al suddenly realized how little he really knew about the rest of the world specifically the Muggle world. He liked to think that he knew a lot about the Muggle world, especially in relation to his siblings who lived almost exclusively in the Wizarding world. But Ellie's words seemed to show him he'd given himself a false sense of superiority. Sure he knew more than the average wizard, but he knew nothing compared to this beautiful creature wrapped in his arms.

"You're amazing, you know?"

Ellie chuckled, "You aren't so bad yourself, Mr. Potter. But I believe you have a watch to try and break."

He was so caught up in Ellie that it took a full five seconds for Al to realize what she was talking about.

"Oh," he blinked and turned for the watch he'd set on the table, "right, we should see if your hypothesis is valid."

Ellie pushed up and kissed his cheek, "For luck."

Al briefly wondered if she knew she was quoting Star Wars, but before he could come up with the words to ask, she pulled away and slipped her hand into his pocket to retrieve his phone.

Merlin, this woman!

Al forced his brain to function as Ellie secured their phones inside the safe box. He set the watch on the table and adjusted the time so it matched the clock in his wall. Then he had an idea.

"What time is it in St. John's?"

Ellie tilted her head and narrowed her gaze at him, "They're three and a half hours behind us."

Al grinned and set the watch back.

He pointedly ignored Ellie's quizzical stare.

Then he set the watch down and made red sparks fly out of his wand.

The watch continued to display the current time in Newfoundland.

Al held back his excitement, instead levitating one of the tools on his work table.

The watch simply adjusted for the minute that had passed.

Al felt his throat go dry and swallowed as he levitated the watch itself.

The watch continued to work, as though nothing out of the ordinary had happened at all.

Carefully, he plucked the watch from the air and set his wand down. He adjusted the watch to jump forward a minute and then set it back to its correct time. He watched the seconds count and timed them with the analog clock on his wall. They were identical.

It worked… It worked? It worked!

Al whooped and jumped up, holding the watch up in the air like it was the Quidditch Cup as he realized he'd knocked over his chair. Then the most graceful arms were wrapped around his neck and the softest lips were pressed against his. His arms quickly fell from the air above him to press Ellie closer to him. The watch fell to the floor with the chair as he moved his hands to run along her body and into her hair. He couldn't believe that this woman was real, that she really was pressed against him, her body under his hands, her lips against his, her tongue sliding along his own. The math was against him, the chances were astronomical, but reality told him he'd hit the one in a million, the evidence to prove it was his current situation along with countless others over the last few days.

And he wondered if maybe this was what his parents meant when they talked about the moment they knew they were it for each other. Or what Jamie meant when he said he finally realized at the end of his seventh year that Allie was more than just a girl he knew. Or what Teddy felt when he realized that he'd been in love with Vic for years and just hadn't put it together.

Al wondered if he loved Ellie.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: I'm not going to be posting next week, my wonderful husband is taking us away for a few days to celebrate my birthday while the grandparents watch our kiddos. But, I'll be back with chapter 10 on Friday, October 4th so it's not a full two weeks without my little obscure ship. ;)**

Al and Ellie settled into a sort of routine after he reluctantly dropped her off at her aunt and uncle's home that Sunday night. They'd text on and off Mondays and Wednesdays. Al would have breakfast at the little restaurant Tuesday and Thursday mornings and they usually found time to call each other after classes those nights. And Friday night through Sunday they spent as much time together as possible while still staying on top of their classes.

"You're completely gone, you know?" Craig whispered as Al watched the clock in their last class on a Friday afternoon in early May.

"I'm not using your notes anymore," Al shot back, gesturing to the pages of information he'd written down during the lecture.

"Touché," Craig rolled his eyes, "but when do I get to meet the girl that you've fallen so hard for?"

"Never," Al laughed quietly.

There was no way Ellie was going to meet Craig. Don't misunderstand, Al liked Craig a lot, he was wicked smart and saw to the heart of problems so quickly sometimes it made Al's head spin. Craig was brilliant, but he was a bit...much sometimes. He teased mercilessly. He had a tendency to speak before thinking, and on more than one occasion it had resulted in some mildly embarrassing situations for Al over the past two years.

"Oohhh," Craig grinned, "so it's a challenge?"

Al froze before turning to glare at Craig.

"No! It's not a challenge!" He hissed.

Craig smiled easily and leant back in his chair, linking his hands behind his head. "You know what I'm capable of, Al. If I want to meet her, I can find her."

"That's unethical!" Al had completely forgotten the end of the lecture as he very seriously considered Obliviating the knowledge of Ellie from his friend's mind and asking his dad for a pass for performing magic on a Muggle.

Craig laughed quietly, "Would be so much easier to introduce me yourself."

Al took a deep breath. He _knew_ Craig. Their friendship was built on a love for computer programming and teasing each other.

"I'll talk to her about it; we haven't met each other's friends or families or anything yet."

"Really?" Craig frowned.

"We've only been seeing each other for two months. I haven't even broached the subject of a Star Wars marathon."

Craig shook his head, "Mate, you need to sort out your priorities."

"Do you want to meet her or not?" Al rolled his eyes.

"Of course I do," Craig stood as their professor dismissed class, "but have the Star Wars talk first. I can't believe you haven't established if her loyalties are right. Honestly, Al, what if she's a Trekkie?"

"You're ridiculous," Al shook his head, "See you Monday."

"You're not coming to study group tomorrow night?" Craig frowned.

"We just have our final in two weeks, we said we'd take tomorrow off from studying before the chaos of finals hit." Al zipped up his bag and threw it over his shoulder.

"Right, which means that we'll party tomorrow, especially since the sun is finally deciding to hang around later into the evening."

Al shrugged, "I'm not going to let you lot kick my trash at your favorite video games every chance you get."

"If you played something more than Minecraft then maybe you'd stop getting your trash kicked." Craig laughed and gave Al a weak shove.

"One day," Al laughed, "I'm going to convince you all to play a mod with me and I'm going to show you what it means to get your trash kicked."

"In your dreams, Potter!" Craig called as they separated to walk to their own places.

Al shook his head as he walked to his normal Apparition point. He was surprised to see someone waiting there for him.

"This is a happy surprise," he grinned and pulled Ellie into him.

"My class was canceled last minute," she murmured against his lips. "I thought we could start our evening early."

"I have no complaints there," Al kissed her again and was just about to turn and take them to his place when he heard his name.

"Hey, Al! Wait I forgot to..." Craig stopped dead and sported the smuggest smile Al had ever seen.

"Hello mystery girl," Craig held out his hand, "I'm Craig, one of Al's mates."

Al almost Apparated them away regardless of the consequences. Ellie, beautiful creature she was, handled Craig with grace.

"Hi Craig, and you can call me Ellie, 'mystery girl' is a bit of a mouthful I think." She shook his hand but kept herself safely wrapped in Al's arms.

He was rather glad of that.

"You from the States?" Craig released her hand and Al pulled her closer.

"Nope," She smiled, "I'm from Newfoundland."

"Did you need something, Craig?" Al didn't manage to keep the annoyance out of his voice.

"Just wanted to let you know a bunch of us are going to be at our regular pub tonight. You should bring Ellie, it'll be fun." Craig's smile tilted into a smirk and Al barely suppressed his groan. He might just kill Craig.

"What time?"

It took Al a moment to realize it was Ellie's beautiful voice that asked the question.

Craig looked at his watch, "We'll start heading down there in about three hours."

"Thanks, Craig," Ellie nodded, "It was great to meet you."

Craig waved before heading back the way he came.

"So that's Craig," Al groaned and buried his head in the crook of El's neck.

"He's a bit headstrong," Ellie chuckled and moved her fingernails into his hair.

Al moaned more than groaned this time.

"That's the most diplomatic way of saying he's a cocky prick I've ever heard."

"Let's get out of here," she laughed before turning and Apparating them to his flat building.

"What would you like to do before we head to that pub?" She asked as she pulled him out of the little alley they used.

Al stopped walking, "El, we don't have to go…"

She winked at him and gave his hand a firm tug. "I'm well aware, Mr. Potter."

Slightly perplexed, Al followed her into his building and to his flat.

"You, you want to spend tonight with a bunch of programming nerds?"

Ellie rolled her eyes, "Had it occurred to you that I'm dating a programming nerd?"

"Well yeah," Al pulled her into him as he unlocked his door. "But I'm mild compared to these blokes, and I'm not really a programming nerd, I'm a wizard innovator who happens to need to know how computers work."

"Oh, I beg your pardon mister innovator," Ellie pulled him down to the sofa with her as he waved his wand at the door. "I didn't realize your tirade the other day about Python had nothing to do with you being a nerd."

"Oi," Al tickled her side, "I did not have a _tirade_ about Python."

"Oh but you most certainly did!" Ellie squirmed as she tried to still his fingers. "But if you think that they're worse prove it to me." Ellie gripped his hands in hers to keep him from really tickling her, "Take me to the pub tonight."

Al sighed as he pulled her into him, his hands no longer tickling her. "Why is it so bad that I want to keep you to myself?"

Ellie chuckled, "Because when we share the people most important to us we all grow."

"Is that another of your grandmother's sayings?" Al laid back and pulled Ellie over him, hoping to distract her from the possibility of spending their evening with his useless group of mates.

"Nope," she grinned down at him, "that one is all my own."

Al sighed, trying to figure out a way out of this craziness. "I haven't met your friends, couldn't we start there?"

Ellie grinned, "Sure! Let's go!"

Before Al was aware of what was happening, Ellie had jumped up from his arms and was moving for the door.

"Wait, what are you doing?"

"You wanted to meet my friends first, so let's go." She gave him a far too innocent smile.

"El…" Al moved to sit up.

"Come on," Ellie grinned at him and Al couldn't help but smile as his eyes caught sight of the streak of blue paint in her hair.

It was something that Al had become accustomed to seeing, paint in her hair, paint on her hands, paint on her arms, paint on her face. It felt like the paint was actually a part of her, seeping out onto her skin and hair to prove that she had so much more to offer, more than her art, more than waiting tables, more than living here in the city. Ellie was so _alive_ and sometimes he envied her vivacious desire to experience life. And more than anything he wanted to keep her in his life.

"Alright," Al stood and took her hand, "but I make no promises for us to hang around my mates again after tonight."

"You're a bit dramatic today, Mr. Potter," Ellie squeezed his hand.

Al burst out laughing.

"You just quoted my mum," he smirked at her perplexed stare.

"Does your mom point out your dramatics as well?" She laughed.

"Actually," Al let her lead him out of the flat, "she mostly points out Dad's dramatics."

Ellie laughed, and Al didn't miss the slight tinge that blushed across her cheeks.

The rest of their Friday went fairly quickly after that. Al was introduced to Sara and Lian who were painters like Ellie. Then he met Kya, a sculptor who Ellie met in figure drawing. And finally, Vlora who was a Mathematics major getting a minor in Art. And they were all amazing. Al was mesmerized as he watched El interacting with her friends. She was so incredibly full of love for them that he was amazed she'd had time for him at all. And yet her friends didn't act at all as though they'd been neglected these last two months. If anything they were excited to meet him. Vlora even went so far as to say he was a right side better than the last bloke Ellie had been with.

Al liked Vlora, she had a good head on her shoulders.

But too soon it was time to bid Ellie's fascinating friends goodbye and move on to introducing her to his lot.

"Last chance to back out," Al sighed as they walked to the pub.

"Smile," she pressed a quick kiss to his cheek, "you look better when you smile."

Al chuckled, "It astounds me how calm you are about everything."

"I have my moments," she shrugged, "but I've found that there's a lot about life that I can choose to be upset about or to just smile. Smiling tends to make everything a bit easier."

Al paused before opening the door to the pub, "Painting helps too, doesn't it?"

"Oh yes," Ellie nodded, "without painting, I don't think I'd be able to smile at all."

Al thought about that as they walked in and he scanned for his friends. He thought he understood what Ellie meant, at least in part. He'd been working to merge magic and technology for so long now that it was just a part of him. He didn't think he'd be able to smile without that part of him.

"Al!" Craig caught his attention and Al guided Ellie to sit with Craig and Henrik.

"Anyone else coming?" Al asked as he pulled a chair out for El.

"The whole crew should be here before the night ends," Craig grinned.

"He sent a group text that you were bringing the girlfriend," Henrik chuckled and held out his hand to Ellie. "I'm Henrik, by the way."

"I'm Ellie," she shook his hand and Al glared at Craig.

"Will you please stop looking at me like you're going to kill me?" Craig laughed.

"I swear, Craig, I'm going to find a way to get you back." Al continued to glare at Craig.

"Right," Henrik chuckled, "so Ellie, what are you studying?"

"Art," Ellie pulled Al's hand into hers and Al momentarily looked away from Craig to find El's perfect face smiling at him. That smile seemed to calm a small part of his anxious mind, and Al managed to smile back at the beautiful creature beside him.

"I'd like to know something far more important," Craig pulled Al back from his brief reprieve, "Star Wars or Star Trek, Ellie?"

"Well, I've never seen Star Trek," she shrugged.

"Do you plan to?" Craig pushed.

"Craig," Al growled.

Ellie however, laughed, "Nope. I don't really enjoy sitting in front of a television."

"Ok," Craig narrowed his gaze, "but did you like Star Wars?"

Ellie nodded, "I liked the ones from the '70s and '80s."

Craig grinned, "You pass."

"Oh good," Ellie laughed, "and now we can move on to more important questions." She leaned forward, "tell me, do you find impressionism or realism more moving?"

Craig frowned, "What?"

"Alright, maybe something easier," Ellie's grin slowly morphed into a smirk. "Do you find watercolor a confining medium, or just a medium that art galleries and collectors aren't broad-minded enough in their tastes?"

Al smirked as Craig continued to look at Ellie like she had switched into speaking French to him.

Ellie's smirk only grew. "Not that either, huh? Alright, here's the easiest one. What sort of art do you like?"

Craig's frown, however, only deepened. "I don't like art."

Ellie laughed, "Do you play video games, Craig?"

"Well, yes, but…"

Ellie cut him off, "Do you like the graphics?"

"Yes," Craig furrowed his brow.

"Then you like art." Ellie grinned triumphantly and Al briefly wondered if he could convince Ellie to hold that look until he could get her to his flat. Not only had she left Craig speechless, but she'd also managed to argue him into a corner.

This woman was everything.

"Before you start interrogating me," Henrik chuckled at Craig's perplexed face. "I've always enjoyed good portraiture."

"See," Ellie gestured between the four of them, "we're not so different after all."

And as the evening progressed, Al found she was right. As each member of their group arrived, Ellie managed to find common ground with all his mates, even when they dove into extreme nerd territory. Al learned new things about each of his friends, things that never would have come up if not for El and her reaching out to each of them. Before he knew it, the sun had fallen below the horizon and they were heading back to their flats.

"That was fun," Ellie grinned up at him as they walked to her aunt and uncle's home.

"Because of you," Al paused their walking to kiss her, "Thank you."

"You're welcome," she smiled up at him. "Oh, and I think Henrik will be able to help with figuring out what's going on with your experimenting." She added and began walking again.

Al frowned. "El, how in the world can I get a Muggle to help me when I can't tell them what I'm doing?"

Ellie rolled her eyes at him, "Just ask him about the differences between what's inside a digital watch and a smartphone. He's majoring in Computer Engineering too, I'm sure he'd be able to bounce ideas around with you."

Al shook his head and smiled, "If I ever get this to work I'm going to tell everyone it was really you that did it and I was just the manual labor."

"Nah," El shook her head, "you had the drive and the dream long before you knew me."

Al pulled her into him as they reached her front door. "I didn't have much more than that before you, El."

Ellie didn't respond, she just kissed him.

It was while he lay in bed that night that El's words from earlier echoed in his mind. He had grown as he shared Ellie, both with her own friends and his own.

Now he just had to figure out how to get Henrik's help without infringing on the Statute of Secrecy.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: And we're back! Next chapter goes up October 12th.**

"Have you ever thought about how far we've come?" Al asked Henrik as they walked to their study group.

"You mean from being children?" Henrik chuckled. "Because I still feel like I'm a child most days."

"Well there's that," Al grinned, and pulled out a digital watch, "but look at this. I mean this is one of the places we started and now I can buy a watch that is basically my phone."

Henrik took the proffered watch from Al's fingers. "Wow, I haven't seen one of these in ages. It's set wrong," he frowned before shrugging. "Did you find it in an old drawer?"

"Basically," Al shrugged, avoiding the question and reason this watch was set back there and a half hours, "I almost want to pull it apart and see the differences between how this works and the things we're learning to create in our courses."

"The biggest difference will be the single layer PCB and fewer microchips." Henrik nodded. "But we definitely should play with it sometime. Maybe we can get the readout to tell time in binary."

"Now you're talking," Al took the phone back from Henrik, "But let's do it after finals."

It wasn't something he hadn't noticed before, the difference in the circuit boards, but Al had been focusing his experimenting more on the microchips being the offenders than the fact that the circuit boards were a different style.

Maybe he'd been chasing the wrong variable?

Al did his best to push that puzzle aside in exchange for focusing on his study group. His experiments really needed to be on hold until he finished finals, but the issue of how to try and test the different styles of circuit boards continued to run on the hamster wheel in the back of his mind.

So much so that his girlfriend noticed later that evening.

"You're distracted," she sighed, and Al realized he hadn't even been looking at his textbook. They'd been studying as they ate dinner together at his flat since both had finals the next morning.

"Sorry," Al ran a hand into his hair, "I finally figured out how to ask Henrik about my experimenting, like you said, and he had an idea, but I have no idea how to test it."

"Well, talk to me about it."

Ellie sounded just a bit exasperated, which Al found odd, but he complied.

"It's the circuit boards, see a circuit board can have multiple layers. The digital watches have one layer and our phones and computers use multiple layers. But, the problem could also have to do with microchips, which I've already been playing around with. And I'm realizing that I've not been isolating my variables but I'm not sure how to now either."

Ellie looked pensive, and as she processed his words, Al noticed the dark circles that were forming under her deep brown eyes. That seemed strange, he'd never seen her look so worn before.

"Build something you can test then," she finally spoke. "When I want to paint something but don't have a good reference for it I go make myself a good reference. Build what you need."

Al nodded, but his mind was far from his experiments now.

"El, have you managed to sleep?"

"What?" She blinked at him.

"You look really tired," he ran a hand along her cheek, "and, and you're missing some of your, of whatever makes you so you."

Ellie closed her eyes and sighed, "I haven't slept much no."

"But, you only have the one final tomorrow, right? All your other classes were papers and paintings." Al's confusion increased.

"School isn't why I'm not sleeping, Al."

"Then why not?"

Ellie slumped over her text and closed her eyes. "My grandma is ill, and I'm not going to be able to get home till August and I'm worried…" she took a deep breath as her voice caught.

Al moved to wrap Ellie in his arms, "Hey, I'm sure she's going to be alright." He ran a comforting hand along her back. "Why don't you just go home after finals?"

"It's part of my arrangement with my aunt and uncle," Ellie's voice was thick and Al wondered if she was holding back tears for his benefit or because she'd already cried herself sick and didn't care to repeat the process. "I work all year except for two weeks in August when I get to go home. In exchange, I get room and board and my paycheck."

"Wait," Al paused as her words set in, "you don't go home for Christmas break? Or ninety percent of the summer?"

Ellie shook her head no and Al wanted to scream. That wasn't right, it wasn't fair, it wasn't what Ellie deserved!

"What if I could get you a major discount on a Portkey?" Al suppressed the urge to scream with the desire to mend it all. Dad got wicked deals on Portkeys and sure Al would have to tell his parents he was dating Ellie but it would be worth it if it meant he got her home.

"I wouldn't be able to explain to my aunt and uncle where I was," Ellie shook her head.

Then Al had an idea, "Tell them you're with me, at my flat."

Ellie went very still in his arms. "Are, I mean, would you, would you be alright with that?"

Al leant his forehead down to rest against hers, "There's very little I won't do for you, El. I'll even pay for the Portkey if it would get you home sooner."

Al watched as tears welled in Ellie's eyes.

"Whoa, I'm trying to help, not make it worse." He pulled her into him but was surprised when she started laughing.

"You are helping and you're making it better not worse." She laughed and cried into his shoulder.

"You're crying because you're glad?" Al felt like his brain had been given a bad bit of code and he got stuck in an infinite loop.

"Yes," Ellie looked up at him, tears streaking down her face, "what kind of discount can you get me? I want us to leave Friday after your last final. I'll need to be back Sunday evening so I can start work Monday morning, I work full time during the summers."

"Us…" Al echoed.

"I want you to see my home, and I want you to meet her..." Ellie's voice caught again and she stopped talking to breathe deeply.

"Of course," Al pulled her into him again, feeling so many things at once he thought he might explode, "of course I'll come."

He was excited that she wanted him to come, scared to death to meet her family, scared to death to introduce her to his parents, excited to see her home, but more than all that, he was anxious to get started, to pack, to nail down their plans and be ready to head out in two days.

"Come on," he pulled her up as he stood, "you're going to meet my parents."

Ellie's eyes went huge, "What?"

Al took comfort in knowing this was just as nerve-wracking for her as it was for him.

"My discount comes from Dad, he'll be able to get us the Portkey all set up in the next hour assuming he's not out on assignment. Mum will know one way or the other, so we'll start there."

Al pressed his lips to hers, "They'll love you, I promise."

Ellie leant into him and for a moment he just held her, allowing the feeling of her heart beating against his to calm his own nerves.

"Let's go," Ellie yawned, "because this is going to put me to sleep."

Al rather liked the idea of Ellie falling asleep against his chest.

But he set that aside for another, less busy moment, instead, leading Ellie out to the small alley they used to Apparate.

One wonderful thing about his parents living in Godric's Hollow was that Al could Apparate right in front of his parents' house, something only he and a few other family members could do thanks to his dad's wards.

Al was ready to go charging in when Ellie sighed happily, "This is beautiful!"

Al stopped and looked around. It looked like home, same as it always had. But Ellie's eyes shone as she slowly took everything in. So Al tried again, tried to see it all with new eyes, through Ellie's eyes.

The homes were in a nice row along the cobblestone road, their front gardens all in varying levels of overgrowth, the stone of their exteriors worn from centuries of housing wizards behind their walls. Spring was in full bloom, all the flowering plants putting on a bright show of pinks and yellows, whites and purples, oranges and reds, all backdropped by the different greens from leaves and stems and lawn. The sun hung low in the sky, causing the sky to shift color from blue to pink to orange.

And as Al really _looked_, he suddenly seemed to really _hear_ as well. There were birds singing, and the rustle of new leaves in the gentle breezes that accompany spring. He could hear his own breathing, which seemed appropriate since he wasn't sure he'd really lived in Godric's Hollow before this moment standing in front of his childhood home with El. It hit him then, that she was the catalyst. Ellie was what made him actually see, and he hoped she always felt like he saw her.

"You're right," he whispered, "I'd never noticed before now, but it's beautiful." Then he smiled, "Just like you."

Ellie's smile blossomed along with a pink tinge against her cheeks.

"Come on," Al kissed her briefly, "let's get you that Portkey."

Al tapped his wand against the door and pushed it open.

"Mum? Dad?"

"Al?" Harry popped his head out of the hall that led to the kitchen with a smile that Al knew his dad reserved only for his kids. "Welcome home, son! Who's this lovely lady?"

Right on cue, Ginny stepped up behind Harry to look around him at said 'lovely lady,' a similar smile on her face.

Al took a deep breath, "Dad, Mum, this is Ellie Battiste, my girlfriend. Ellie, these are my parents, Harry and Ginny Potter."

Ellie stepped forward, her hand held out, but Ginny ignored her hand entirely and pulled Ellie into a hug that Al knew from experience felt an awful lot like Grandma Weasley's.

"It's wonderful to meet you!"

Ellie laughed as Ginny released her. "You too, Mrs. Potter."

"We're Ginny and Harry to our friends," Harry shook her hand, "and any friend of Al's is a friend of ours."

"Thank you, Harry," Ellie smiled.

"Dad, can you get us a Portkey for Friday?" Al stepped up behind Ellie and slipped a hand around her waist.

"Al, if you're eloping, can you at least let your father and I be witnesses?"

Al felt his mouth go dry and his stomach plumet. "No! I mean, we're not, I, er, I…"

"Gin, please stop breaking our son," Harry chuckled and put a comforting hand on Al's shoulder. "Come sit down, both of you, and we can look into getting you a Portkey."

Al focused on not looking at Ellie, he was scared to death to find out what expression might be upon her perfect face.

"Now, Ellie, where about in Canada are you from?"

Al looked sharply at his father as he helped Ellie to sit. "We hadn't mentioned she was from Canada."

Harry rolled his eyes at him, "Al, who am I aside from being your father?"

Al looked down and suppressed an embarrassed groan, "Sorry, this is stressful."

Harry chuckled and ruffled Al's hair, "You're doing just fine." Then he turned to Ellie, "I'm the Head of Magical Law Enforcement, I've spent time in Canada, and I recognize the accent. You sound a touch different than the Canadians that I worked with though."

"I'm from Newfoundland," Ellie's smile seemed to give Al a bit more courage, "Specifically near St. John's. Is there more that you'll need to know?"

"We can get the details hammered out in a moment. My next question is what you'll be doing."

"Ellie's grandmother is sick," Al jumped in. "We're not eloping," he shot his mum a look.

"Not yet," she shot back, and Al felt his stomach drop again, but Ellie laughed.

"Don't worry, Ginny, I'm an only child, my parents would kill me if I eloped."

"We'll get along just fine," Ginny reached out and squeezed Ellie's arm.

Al was pretty sure he wasn't going to live through this.

"When did you want to leave?" Harry chuckled and gave Ginny a look Al remembered from childhood. He was glad that he'd be in his own flat tonight.

"Friday around noon," Ellie started but Al cut her off.

"Friday at eleven," he shook his head, "this final is a joke. If it takes me an hour to finish it then I'll buy the second Portkey."

Harry chuckled, "There's so much of your aunt in you sometimes it scares me."

"And we'll need to be back Sunday night, I have to work Monday morning," Ellie added.

"Alright, I'll get this all filled out, and I'll cut you a deal," Harry nodded as he summoned the parchment form and a pen. "If you can spend this evening with us and let us get to know you, I'll pay for the Portkey."

Al held his breath and looked at Ellie, who smiled widely and nodded, "I'll stay all night if you want me to."

Ginny laughed, "We won't keep you all night," she summoned the tea tray and tapped her wand against the kettle to warm it, "but I definitely would like to get to know you. You've managed to get my normally myopic son to act like his father after we got together after the war."

Harry rolled his eyes, "Al's handling this loads better than I did, give the poor boy some credit."

Al groaned and put his head on the table. Ellie's laughter pulled his eyes back up to her, and her smile made him feel like maybe he'd make it through this evening alright.

And he did, to the extent that he was sure his parents were quite pleased with Ellie. They returned to his flat by floo, Portkey in hand. He was about to move to the door to Apparate her home when Ellie grabbed his hand and stopped him.

"Come on."

Al followed her, slightly perplexed, to his room. Ellie kicked off her shoes and pulled him down to his bed with her.

"Er, what, El, I'm, I, I'm definitely, but, your final, and…"

Ellie chuckled and pulled the covers back. "Just sleep next to me, Al, I don't want to go back to my room. It's small and cramped and smells like varnish and I'm tired."

Al smiled, she was cute when she was tired. Quickly kicking off his shoes and setting an alarm on his phone, Al slid onto the bed and wrapped himself around her.

"Thank you," she sighed happily.

"Anything for you, El," he kissed her hair.

And as they dozed off to sleep, he genuinely felt he'd do anything for her, because he was starting to realize that he was quickly falling in love with Eliza Battiste.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Next chapter goes up on October 18th.**

Al didn't have to buy a second Portkey, in fact, they could have left a half-hour earlier if they'd been able to adjust the times themselves. Al had his duffle bag over one shoulder and backpack over the other as he stood holding the Portkey with Ellie in his flat, her shoulders similarly heavy with her own bags.

Finally, the time hit and he felt the familiar pull from his naval as they were more or less thrown across the Pond.

When they touched the ground on Newfoundland, Al took a moment to get his bearings and realized he was standing in a forest.

Then Ellie sighed, "Nipugt."

"Pardon?"

She took his hand he noticed everything about her seemed lighter.

"The woods," her eyes shone brighter than the morning sun above them.

"Do you know where to go from here?" Al didn't fancy the notion of being lost in the woods all weekend.

Ellie rolled her eyes, "Of course I know."

And she did. Confidently she led him along a faint path he hadn't seen, pointing out places to avoid stepping so as not to disturb the creatures around them. After ten or so minutes, she pulled him out of the woods and onto the side of a paved road.

"Will your dad know where to find us?" Al looked up and down the road with a frown on his face. "Maybe we should call him."

He jumped when El wrapped her arms firmly around his neck and pressed her lips to his.

"Please calm down," she slid her tongue against his bottom lip, "and enjoy where you are."

Al sighed, letting his bags fall from his shoulders, putting his hands to better use holding Ellie. Kissing her helped calm the anxiousness he felt about meeting her family; it reminded him she was his rock while here and he could count on her to be that foundation he needed.

Gradually, El slowed their pace until she pulled back and rested her forehead against his.

"Now try and _see_," she took half a step back and shifted to tuck herself under his arm.

Al blinked, and then his breath got caught in his throat.

He saw.

The woods around him were vividly green, just like El's painting those months ago. The bark and dirt were rich in texture and color, and Al wondered if they might find that bright blue body of water she'd painted just around the bend.

He heard.

The gentle breeze rustled the new summer leaves and several birds sang their morning songs as the sun pushed higher in the sky.

He smelled.

The Earth here, with her trees and dirt and the birds and all the creatures, smelled better than Grandma Weasley's vegetable patch. The scent filled his lungs and he thought maybe he was really breathing for the first time in his entire life.

He smiled.

How had he lived this long and not experienced this feeling? How had he managed to survive?

"Wow," his tone was hushed as his senses engulfed him in his new surroundings.

Ellie hummed her agreement and he felt her take in a slow deep breath before sighing it out. They stood in silence as Al let their surroundings flood his senses and quiet his mind. He had no sense of time now, just this feeling of being in a place so perfect that he felt humbled to be standing there at all. And El seemed content to stand with him on this hallowed ground, letting her home communicate more about herself to him than words could ever hope to accomplish.

And in that semi-trance state, Al didn't hear the car pull off on the side of the road behind him, he didn't hear someone approaching, and it wasn't until El pulled out of his arm that Al was able to return to reality.

"Tata't!" Ellie threw herself into her father's arms and clung to him.

Her father held her with tears standing in his eyes. "We've missed you Tu's!"

Al smiled at the words he didn't completely understand. It was like being around Ted and Vic or Uncle Bill and Aunt Fleur when they'd slip French words into their conversations. It felt familiar in a comforting way like he hadn't just traveled some two thousand miles away from home.

As he watched the two embrace, he noticed El's dad looked a great deal like her, but was quite a bit taller, about the height of himself. His dark eyes were the same as Ellie's, and his hair was hers too. But her dad's facial features were a bit sharper than her own.

But he held onto El in a way that made Al want to stand a little straighter, to show he could be worthy of this beautiful treasure the man before him held so dearly.

"Daddy, this is Al Potter, my boyfriend." Ellie pulled back from her father's embrace after a moment. "He's who figured out how to get me home without Aunt Susan and Uncle Charlie getting suspicious about it."

Ellie's dad chuckled, "Yes, your mother has endured an earful about his method." But he held out his hand and smiled.

Al swallowed hard and took his hand. "I'm sorry if I've caused any trouble, Mr. Battiste. I only meant to help."

"Please, call me John," he smiled warmly, "and I'm happy you were able to find a way for her to come home for the weekend. This is a rare treat for us."

"I hope to make it a more consistent thing for her, John." Al found his smile contagious. "I won't be able to come every time, but I'd like Ellie to be able to come back any weekend she wants to."

Ellie's smile at Al's comment lit a fire in his chest.

"I think we'll get along just fine," John winked at Ellie. "Let's get your bags in the car and head home. Your mum is making breakfast, though I suppose for you it'll serve as lunch."

Al chuckled but quickly picked up the bags and carried them to the car. The drive to Ellie's childhood home from this random stretch of road only took fifteen minutes, and as John and Ellie continued to point things out as they drove it helped distract him from the unsettling feeling of driving on the wrong side of the road.

It was when John turned onto their property that Al stopped thinking about what side of the road they were driving on.

He could feel the magic around them.

It was amazing, the whole property seemed to pulse with magic, and Al immediately was grateful that his and Ellie's phones were safely packed in a smaller magic proof box for the Portkey journey because he was sure that they'd be ruined right now.

"How do you keep the magic at bay when you want to use technology?" Al asked curiously as they all piled out of the car to go into the large home in front of him.

John chuckled, "We use some of the old magic that our fathers passed down to us. We've had to adapt it but it serves our purpose."

Al's excitement felt like it might start spouting out of his ears, "I'd love to learn more about that. My parents and aunt and uncle spent a few years using their spare time finding ways to block technology off from magic. I'd love to show them another way."

"Al wants to make it so both worlds can coexist together," Ellie smiled at her dad, "like it used to be."

John paused at the front door, a soft smile on his lips, "Then I will be happy to show you our methods."

John had them set their bags in the entryway before leading them into the kitchen. When Al saw Ellie's mum, he did a double-take.

Al's dad had once told him of accidentally mistaking Grandma Andromeda for her Death Eater sister, Bellatrix, and Al had never understood how. Grandma Andromeda was nothing like a Death Eater. But today, Al realized he might have been too quick to judge his dad. Because Al would have been willing to put money down that Ellie's Aunt Susan was standing in the kitchen. However, once he took a moment to actually look at her, Al saw the differences.

Ellie's mum was younger by the looks of it, and her hair was longer, but the thing that really stood out was that she was smiling, and it was obviously the smile that Ellie had inherited. Speaking of said beautiful smile, El's voice cut through his internal monologuing.

"Giju'," Ellie threw herself at her mum.

"My baby girl," she pulled Ellie into a hug, "I'm so happy you made it safe!"

Ellie clung to her mum for a moment before pulling back, "Mummy, this is my boyfriend, Al Potter."

"It's lovely to meet you, I'm Lisa," she held out her hand to him, which he took with a smile.

"It's my pleasure."

"Mummy," Ellie looked up at the ceiling, "is Nmi' awake yet?"

Lisa shook her head, "She wasn't when I came down to get started on breakfast, but you can go up and check now if you'd like."

Ellie nodded and headed for the stairs they'd passed near the entryway. Al wasn't sure whether to follow her or not when Ellie called to him over her shoulder.

"Hurry up, slowpoke."

All didn't dare look at her parents as he followed after his girlfriend.

The stairs creaked with their age as they climbed them and Al wondered why they didn't just use magic to mend them so they wouldn't squeak. Maybe he could do it for them?

Before he could think more on it though, Ellie led him down the hall at the top of the stairs and quietly pushed open the second door.

Al couldn't believe his eyes

There, propped up in her bed with her eyes closed as she slept, was the witch from Ellie's painting that Al had initially tried to talk to those few months ago. She was older than in the painting, but there was no mistaking it was the same woman. He was immediately grateful he hadn't ever mentioned that embarrassing moment to anyone, specifically Ellie.

"This is my Grandma Naomi," Ellie whispered to keep from waking her.

But Naomi stirred and opened her eyes.

"Ah, the boy who talks to paintings, it's good to see you in person."


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Next chapter goes up October 26th. :) And thank you to all of you wonderful Guest commenters! I really appreciate your kind and thoughtful words of encouragement! And don't worry, I never abandon stories, this won't be any different. **

Al gaped at Ellie's grandmother, but Ellie rushed to her side.

"Nmi', I missed you!"

"My dear child, you've been away too long. How much longer must I live without your smile?" Naomi gathered Ellie in her arms and closed her eyes for a moment. Her silver hair was sprawled around her and looked a bit like someone had dropped a package of tinsel.

"Just two more years and I'll come home for good, Nmi', I promise."

Al heard the emotion in Ellie's voice and was suddenly torn between wanting to rush to her side and feeling as though he might be intruding and should slip out.

Naomi spoke before he could decide.

"You should tell her, it'll make her laugh."

"Tell me what?" Ellie turned and looked at Al with a quirked eyebrow.

Al had never wanted to Aparate out of a conversation as badly as he did at that moment.

Naomi laughed at him.

"She'll laugh, Albus, and you love her laugh, so tell her. I haven't heard her laugh in nearly a year. Give an old woman a bit of joy."

Al swallowed and ran a hand into his hair and then made a fist, pulling on the messy strands.

"Nmi', be nice," Ellie walked back to Al, pulling his hand from his hair and laughing. "Grandma is a Legilimens, and she likes to tease people with it."

Al felt the air go out of him, suddenly feeling very exposed. He'd heard about Legilimens, and he knew his dad had practiced it a bit, but he'd never met anyone who actually possessed the gift, rather than those who had been taught.

"Let an old woman have her fun."

Al looked up to see Naomi smirking.

"You have plenty of fun, Nmi'," Ellie laughed. "Are you coming to breakfast?"

Naomi took in a deep breath and yawned as she stretched her arms out. "Yes, I'll join you in a few minutes. First, I'm going to make myself presentable."

Ellie chuckled but moved to kiss her grandmother's cheek. "Ok, Nmi', we'll see you downstairs."

Al took her hand as Ellie moved back around the bed towards the door.

"That would have been a good thing to know before meeting your grandmother."

Ellie frowned, "I must have mentioned it."

Al gave a bit of an exasperated laugh, "No, that's something I would have remembered. Natural Legilimens aren't terribly common."

Ellie's frown deepened, "I'm sorry. I've been in the Muggle world for long enough that I'm interacting with everyone under a Muggle filter I suppose."

Al hated the way her face had lost the smile that had been there moments before and he stopped her at the bottom of the stairs.

"Hey, it's, it's alright. I, I was surprised and just, your grandma is the first Legilimens I've ever met, and I felt embarrassed."

El pulled him into her, linking her wrists behind his neck before kissing him. "What was Nmi' talking about?"

Her fingers were in the hair at the nape of his neck, and as she murmured her question, her lips brushed against his in a way that made a part of Al's brain lose track of his embarrassment.

"Just something dumb I did when I was boarder line stalking you." Al knew he should be concerned about snogging El right now, but as he pressed his lips against hers, he couldn't remember why.

"Hmm," Ellie sighed into him, "Did you steal a paintbrush for me?"

Al smirked as Ellie melted into him. He was so caught up in her that he spoke before thinking.

"I tried talking to the painting of your grandma."

Ellie snorted as she laughed and broke their impromptu snogging session.

"You didn't!"

Al groaned but grinned down at her, "You nymph! You distracted me into telling you that."

"Merlin! You must have looked insane!" She laughed harder and grabbed onto the banister behind her to keep her upright.

"Well, in Wizarding galleries, I would have looked quite normal, madam." Al tickled her sides.

"But you tried to talk to a painting in a Muggle gallery!" El pulled his fingers into hers.

Al shook his head and laughed, "Yes, love, I tried to talk to _your_ painting of your _witch grandmother_ in a Muggle gallery."

Ellie stilled, her eyes sought his and her face became immensely hopeful. "Did, do you mean that?"

Al paused, trying to decipher what she meant. He went over his last sentence in his mind twice before he caught it. Then he felt his emotions spin through the gambit. He was nervous, then terrified, then elated, then overjoyed, then apprehensive, then doubtful, then determined, and finally resolved.

He gathered her in his arms and tucked her hair behind her ear.

"I love you, El."

Her answering smile was one that Al hoped he'd get to see forever. It was soft in a way that made her look timeless, but also so bright he was sure the sun would be dim in comparison. Merlin, had she always been so beautiful and he'd just been too blind to notice?

"I love you too, Al."

Her voice was music, an entire orchestra couldn't hold a tune to her voice as she uttered those five words. It was an amazing feeling, to have her say she loved him, and Al needed some outlet to show her because words seemed to pale in comparison to the breadth and width and depth of these emotions.

So he kissed her.

He held her as close as physics would allow him to and he poured everything into his kiss. Al was keenly aware that he wasn't a poet. He didn't have the control of language that Ted had or the wit that Jamie relied upon. He wasn't an artist. He couldn't paint like Ellie. He couldn't sing the way Lily could or play any sort of instrument. But if there was ever a moment Al wished for the Grecian gifts, it was this one. This one moment where he wanted to be able to give Ellie beauty in the moment she made him feel complete and whole.

But while he couldn't do that, he could kiss her, and he could hold her, and for now, that would have to be enough.


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Updating a bit later today, had something unexpected come up this morning, but it's only about five hours later than normal so I'm thinking I'm alright. ;) Next chapter goes up on November 2nd.**

It was the creaking of the stairs that pulled the young couple back to reality.

Al reluctantly looked up from El to see Naomi plodding slowly down the stairs. Her silver hair was braided down her back in one long braid, and her dark eyes were laughing at him.

"See Albus, she laughed," Naomi winked at him.

"Nmi' be nice," Ellie blushed but Al couldn't see past the light in her eyes.

Naomi patted Ellie on the cheek and chuckled, "I am, Mijua'ji'j."

Then she smiled at him, "You'll have to take all of us, child. She's a package, you see."

Al could only nod, uncertain if Naomi was choosing to read into his thoughts again or not.

Whether she was or wasn't, she chose not to comment on it. Instead, she put an affectionate hand on Al's arm before slowly making her way toward the kitchen, balancing against the wall as she went.

He turned to ask Ellie about Naomi's health only to find her lips back against his.

"El," he murmured as she pulled him closer, "shouldn't we…"

"In a moment," Ellie grinned against him. "You were just telling me you love me."

Al chuckled as his heart soared, "Right."

He moved his lips to pepper her with kisses and smirked at the happy sigh that escaped her.

He was completely gone for this woman; this amazing creature who had to be one part sunshine and one part pure joy; this beauty who put the stars to shame; whose goodness made him want to stand a little straighter, made him want to be everything for her, to give her the world on a silver platter, knowing she'd smile and tell him to put it back because everyone needed to have the world, not just her.

He was intent on showing her all these emotions he'd never be able to put into words when a voice penetrated the haze that always accompanied kissing El.

"Ellie, honey, breakfast is ready."

El pulled back to smile up at him and Al fought the deep desire to ignore Lisa and just keep kissing Ellie but he thought better of it.

"Shall we?" El stole one last kiss.

Al nodded, "Yeah, I think being around people would be wise right now."

Ellie hummed and gave him a wicked grin. "Maybe one day, we could choose not to be around people and see where it gets us."

And then she slipped out from his grasp and nearly skipped back towards the kitchen.

She was going to kill him.

The weekend passed quickly, mostly because when Al wasn't with Ellie, or her whole family, John and Lisa were teaching him how they managed to coexist in both the magical and Muggle worlds. His time with John and Lisa was what really made the weekend pass by at warp speed, but not in a good way.

Up until Al left for Newfoundland, he would have insisted that the puzzle of technology and magic lay in finding where the disconnect was in the _technology_ and then engineering a solution. But as he packed his bag, Al was fighting with the thought that maybe he was going about this wrong.

Maybe the problem was magic...

The idea came because the spells John mentioned were ones normally used to direct and move water. Ellie's family, and from what he understood many others here in Newfoundland, had adapted these spells, manipulating them to direct the flow of magic itself. Basically perfecting the idea his parents and aunts and uncles had by blocking an entire room off to magic, and instead just blocking off the area an item was in. John still couldn't carry his cell phone _and_ use his wand at the same the, but he could have his telly in the same room as he levitated a bowl of popcorn over.

It was genius and left Al feeling like an idiot for not having seen that was an option before, but also left him wondering if maybe he was digging for a solution when he had a decent lead smacking him in the face. After all, he still needed to make some single and multilayer circuit boards and get some chips soldered on and test them.

But what if he didn't need to come up with _why_ magic broke technology, and just stop the breaking from happening?

"You're starting to see." Naomi's voice startled him and he dropped the shirt he was folding onto the floor.

"I mean no disrespect," Al stooped to pick up the shirt, "but that's a bit unnerving, you know?"

"Lisa said the same thing when John explained who we are," Naomi chuckled. "She has grown to love me though, and this gift is a part of me."

Al made a mental note to ring and ask Lisa about how she handled this nuance of Naomi's gift after he was home.

"What did you mean about me starting to see?"

"Young people forget to look around them. As you get older you see things that were always there but you ignored before. You're starting to see."

Al furrowed his brow, "So you think I'm on the right track?"

Naomi chuckled, "I have no idea, but you're seeing, you're questioning what you assumed was your path, and you'll find your way by doing that. Very little in this life is worth being completely set in stone, be willing to bend, Albus, be willing to stretch, and grow. Life is meant for growing, for bettering ourselves, that's how you really change the world."

Al nodded silently as Naomi's words processed. He had a feeling he'd be processing them for a while.

"One more thing Albus," Naomi leaned heavily against the door frame, "ask Ellie to take you to the lake in her painting. She's being silly and not telling you she wants to go, but young people are often silly, you are after all."

"Thanks, Naomi," Al didn't let himself think about exactly which silly behavior on his part she was referring to. "Would you like a hand to your room?"

"No," Naomi grinned, "but I wouldn't mind your arm."

Al chuckled and moved to the old woman's side, letting her take his arm to support her.

"Have you ever considered a cane? My grandfather uses one."

"I'm not normally so weak, Albus," she smiled up at him. "I caught something magical at the same time I caught the flu, and it's left me feeble. But John is a good son and takes me out into Nipugt and Gtmn and that's the best healing one can get. I'll be back to normal before the tourists really start pouring in."

"Oh," Al frowned, "does Ellie know all this because she thought you were in pretty rough shape."

Naomi paused at her bedroom door and gave a sad smile, "Losing me is a scary concept for her. And as I'm nearing seventy, she struggles to keep that fear at bay."

Naomi shook her head before patting Al on the cheek.

"Take care of my Ellie, she's too good for this world."

Al nodded, "You have my word, Naomi."

As Naomi shut the door, Al went back down the stairs and found Ellie sketching on the back porch. He walked up behind her and snaked his hands around her waist before placing his lips against her neck.

"We still have a few hours," he murmured as he kissed her, "what do you think of showing me that lake you painted?"

"Really?" The excitement in El's voice told Al he needed to send Naomi a thank you gift.

"Show me your inspiration, love," he moved her around to kiss her properly, "I'd like to know if it can hold up to your talent."

Ellie laughed, "I promise, it's better." She kissed him hard before pulling back.

And she was right.

Ellie Apparated them straight there and Al was left speechless as he stared out at the real thing. His inability to articulate didn't seem to bother El, at least he assumed her willingness to snog him back was a pretty good indication of it, because kissing her was all he could think to do.


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Next chapter goes up November 9th.**

They settled into a new routine as the summer plodded on. Ellie's only day off was Thursdays, and Al was taking classes every weekday, so they made do with Wednesday nights, Thursdays after Al finished classes, and unlimited texting plans.

Ellie went back home for the day a couple of those Wednesday nights, and while Al wanted to come with her, it never timed out well with his course load.

And maybe that's one of the reasons Al's sanity was slipping.

He was sure it was slipping. The fact that he forgot to write down anything from the last two nights of experimenting told him as much. His meticulousness was normally borderline OCD yet he had, for not one night but two, ran experiments without any way to look back and see what had happened. And seeing as it had been a couple of days since he had been able to experiment, he couldn't remember anything clearly.

Al was going to rip his hair out.

Literally though with how hard he was pulling on it at the moment.

His coursework was slipping as well. He'd pulled two all-night sessions finishing papers he'd somehow forgot to put on his calendar. And he nearly missed an exam last week. Al was ashamed to admit that one had been in his calendar.

The frustration he had been stewing in the last several weeks was quickly turning into seething anger. The heat of the summer and the exhaustion from his two consecutive sleepless nights combined his inability to do anything right and how much he missed El left Al ready to scream.

Desperate for _any_ way out of this storm, Al snagged the first thing he could reach and hurled it across the room with all the force he could muster, as though he could throw the chaos inside him out with the hurled item.

The opposite happened when Al realized what he had thrown as it crashed against the wall and broke.

The digital watch he bought with Ellie, and set to Newfoundland's time, lay in pieces against the far wall.

And for the first time in a long time, Al thought he might cry.

That was probably what did it. The feelings from his childhood, rushing to his parents whenever something awful happened and knowing he was safe, left him wishing he was seven years old again. That the comfort Al always found in his mum's embrace or his dad's gentle but strong hand and his shoulder could be his in this moment, right now.

Al shoved the pieces of the watch into his pocket, grabbed his wand, and walked through the fireplace and into his parents' home.

"Al!" Harry moved from the couch with a warm smile that seemed to push Al over the edge of his emotional cliff.

"Hi Dad," Al heard his voice crack and he quickly shoved his fist under his eyes, angrily trying to stop the tears that had escaped.

"What's wrong?" Harry pulled Al into the couch and put a strong hand on his shoulder.

Al swallowed hard, trying to shove the tears back. "Oh, you know, just sucking at life, being an idiot, feeling like a pansy for how much I miss El, the usual."

"I think I can relate," Harry smiled and handed Al a tissue.

"How did you deal with it? I got so mad not five minutes ago that I broke something pretty important by hurling it across the room."

Harry chuckled, "Well, I have had my share of throwing things. After Sirius died, I destroyed most of the headmaster's gizmos around his office. But I've learned that doesn't help you to gain control, usually, it makes you feel less in control."

Al hung his head, "And potentially break important things."

Harry squeezed his shoulder as he continued, "Right, so I don't recommend it. But what I have learned helps is breaking down what I'm feeling and talking it through with someone I can trust and is to some degree outside of the situation."

Al took a deep breath and looked up at his dad, green eyes meeting their source, "Want to do that with me?"

"I'd like nothing better."

Al laid it all out, his forgetfulness, his stress, his personal need to keep his grades high, his experiments, how he felt like a failure, how nothing seemed to be giving him answers, how confused he was over it, and most of all how the summer had pulled Ellie away from him and he really wasn't handling it at all.

And his dad listened. Harry sat with him on the sofa quietly, eyes locked on his son's, as Al unloaded weeks of built-up emotion and internal turmoil.

It wasn't until Al had sat silent for several moments that Harry spoke.

"That's a lot going on right now, I get why you're feeling overwhelmed."

"But, I shouldn't," Al shook his head. "You and Mum and everyone went through a nightmare, you all know what real stress is like. You were teenagers fighting a war for Merlin's sake. I should be able to handle this."

Al was taken aback as his dad's face became very stern.

"I want you to understand something very important, Albus. Trauma is not something to compare to stress. You'll have a lot of people tell you to get over it because someone else has had it worse than you. But most of us who've had it worse have experienced trauma. And trauma is not the same as stress. You're learning to handle stress and that's a good thing, but don't ever think that you aren't allowed to experience stress just because people in your life have experienced trauma."

Harry took a deep breath before he smiled again, "How about we talk about ways to help with your stress?"

Al nodded, still a bit dazed by the vehemence in his dad's speech.

"Good. First, we can't help you sort through your stress if you're anxiety is in high gear. So let's get you calm."

"How are we doing that?" Al felt like nothing was going to help.

"Well, I need you to believe it's possible. Decide that you could, potentially, be happy before you leave here."

Al gawked, "You mean just choose to not feel miserable?"

Harry chuckled, "Not exactly. Choose to believe you _could_ not feel miserable before you leave here tonight. I won't tell you that everything will be fine. I'm just asking you to believe you could leave here feeling better than you do now."

Al furrowed his brow. What his dad was saying felt weird. Feelings were feelings, he didn't get to choose how he felt...right?

But Al trusted his dad. He'd been able to rely on his dad for support in all his decisions. Harry Potter was the ultimate cheerleader for his children, and when Al announced his pipe dream to the family, Harry had pledged half of the Potter/Black inheritance to Al's search for a solution. So with that built trust firmly in place, Al gave it a shot.

"Alright, I could leave here tonight feeling better than I do now."

Harry grinned. He then proceeded to walk Al through different breathing exercises, then reminding him of old stories and of laughter in their home. It was amazing, but after thirty or so minutes, Al started to feel lighter.

He commented on that and Harry summoned a pad and a pen.

"Good, now we move on. Something that can help is writing down everything you have on your plate and then writing down everything from that list that's stressful right now. Then you decide if anything can be let go of. After that, you plan ways to help you stay on top of what's left." He paused as he handed the pad and pen over. "But, if the anxiety comes back, stop and we'll move on to other things that can help."

It took the better part of an hour, and more than once Al felt his anxiety clutching him at the back of his neck, but with his Dad's help, they managed to make a plan. He'd need to sacrifice a few things, but those sacrifices would make some space for what his long term goals were.

"Do you feel better?" Harry wrapped his arm around Al's shoulders.

Al chuckled, "Yeah, you were right, per usual."

Harry grinned, "Music to every father's ears. Why don't you and Ellie come round for an early dinner this next week? Take a break from the monotony of this summer?"

Al smiled, "Thanks, Dad, that sounds great. I'll talk to El when she gets back tomorrow. She's home for the night."

After stepping through the grate into his flat. Al set about trying to fix the little watch. It wasn't too badly broken, and he was pretty sure he could mend it. But he was interrupted by a knock on his door.

Expecting it to be one of his mates, Al moved to answer with a bit of a smile on his lips.

To his great shock, Ellie's aunt, Susan, stood on the other side of his door.

"Hello, Al, I'm here to speak with Eliza."

Merlin, have mercy on him.


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: Early update so I can help my sister out tomorrow with her sweet kids. =D I'll post again on November 16th. **

Al gaped at her for a moment before saying the first thing that came to mind.

"Ellie's stepped out."

Susan frowned, "Where?"

"Er, an art gallery, I would've gone with her but I've got some coursework to finish, so, er, maybe just call her?"

Al felt the panic rising. The last thing he needed was Susan calling 999 because she suspected him of murdering her niece.

Susan's frown deepened, "She hasn't answered my calls all day. I'll just wait here until she gets back if you don't mind."

Al minded. He really freaking minded.

"Of, of course, have a seat," Al stepped to the side and cursed himself. This impossibly long day just got infinitely longer.

Susan sat down and Al watched as she began looking around his sparse but clean flat.

"I just need to make a call," Al tried to keep his voice level, "I'll be right out."

Susan nodded as she continued to scrutinize his sitting room.

He slid his bedroom door shut and pulled his phone out, dialing the Battiste's landline and praying for an answer.

Four rings and he heard Naomi's voice.

"Hello?"

"Naomi, it's Al, is Ellie there, it's a bit of an emergency."

"Of course, child, just a moment."

Al waited, and it occurred to him he didn't know if Legilimens could read thoughts over the phone. Based on her lack of teasing he reasoned the answer was no.

"Al!" Ellie's voice rang like music.

"Hey, love, how fast do you think you can jump the pond and show up at my front door?"

Ellie laughed, "My Portkey has me landing in your living room tomorrow afternoon."

"About that," Al moved all the way against the far wall of his bedroom, praying he couldn't be overheard. "Your aunt is in my sitting room right now, waiting for you to get back from an art gallery that I was too swamped with coursework to join you at."

Ellie started to swear.

"El, why does she have my address?" He tried to keep the panic out of his voice.

"Because she was throwing a fit about her responsibility to keep me safe and so I gave it to her to get her to lay off. I never thought she'd actually use it."

"So, what do we do?"

Ellie groaned, "Let me talk to Dad, maybe he'll have an idea. I'm sorry love."

"Maybe try calling her? She said she had tried to call you."

"Good idea, that might at least get her out of your flat."

"We'll get this sorted," Al tried to put more confidence in his voice than he currently felt.

"I love you," Ellie sighed heavily.

"I love you too," Al ran a weary hand over his face.

They disconnected the call and Al squared his shoulders before heading back into his sitting-room, grabbing a random textbook on his way out.

"Sorry 'bout that, would you like a tea or something?" Al tried to smile and hide his annoyance.

"I'm fine, thank you," Susan's frown was still stuck on her face and Al sighed as he sat down at his table and opened his textbook, resisting the urge to clean his kitchen.

It was an excruciating five minutes until he heard Susan's phone ring.

"Eliza," she answered almost immediately.

Al held his breath, straining to hear the other side of the conversation to no avail. This was a moment he could do with one of Uncle George's Extendable Ears.

"No, dear, I think I'll just wait here for you." Susan's voice was firm, and Al didn't care for the way it made him think of his Grandma Andromeda.

Susan was nothing like Andromeda as far as Al was concerned.

"It's more so that you refused to respond to me since you left work, miss."

Al held back a growl. It wasn't Ellie's fault she hadn't responded. She probably set her phone down in one of the places it would be safe from magic and hadn't bothered to look at it after that. It wasn't like she could carry her phone everywhere she went like Muggles could.

If only he could solve the puzzle! They wouldn't be in this mess if he was smarter.

Al picked up his phone and pulled off the cover to clean it. He needed to keep his hands busy or he was going to be tempted to hurl his textbook.

"I understand dear, but I've been worried sick about you. You're lucky I came here first and didn't just call to report a missing person. I'll wait here so I can see for myself that you're alright."

Al paused to look up and stare at Susan. The woman looked like she might break down in tears, and her tone was so reminiscent of Andromeda that Al found himself reconsidering his first impressions.

"Goodbye, dear, I'll see you when you get back from your art thing." Susan placed her phone back in her purse and went back to looking around his flat from her seat on the sofa.

"I'm sorry you were so concerned about Ellie," Al spoke before he could think better of it. "I promise she's been safe since she got here this afternoon."

Susan took a slow, deep breath before looking up at him. "One day, you'll find yourself charged with a child, and you'll understand how that changes everything about the way you think and see the world."

Al set his phone and the napkin he'd been using to clean it down. "Do you have children of your own too?"

"No," she shook her head, "But Lisa, that's my sister, she asked me to look after Eliza like she was my own. Eliza's blood is my blood, I'll do everything I can to make sure she's safe and looked after."

Al felt his first impressions wavering dangerously but he pushed on anyway. Gryffindors tend to jump headfirst and think of the consequences later.

"She scared you today. You thought you'd have to call Lisa and John and tell them the worst news a parent could receive."

Susan straightened a bit and nodded but said nothing.

"I'm truly sorry, Susan."

Al felt awful. He'd been so insistent on helping Ellie escape back home, that he'd painted her aunt and uncle as villains simply because they saw the world differently than El and himself.

"That was never my intent with all of this."

"I'm aware, Al, but thank you."

Al didn't know what to say next and Susan didn't seem to want to fill the silence either. Al tried to read his textbook, but he found himself reading the same few paragraphs over and over again and not processing them. He couldn't get over the feelings that had accompanied his conversation with Susan.

He'd done exactly what his family had taught him _not_ to do with people.

He wrote Susan and Charlie off simply because they saw the world differently than him. He'd vilified them in his mind because they didn't understand El's desire to be a professional artist; because they came off as unhappy and reserved; because he assumed they didn't let her go home over Christmas.

But when he thought about how much it cost to travel via Muggle airplanes, how much tuition and books cost, and how the break between semesters wasn't as long in the winter as it was in the summer, he could see how logically, it would be a good idea to make the one trip a year El could afford to go home be in the summer, when she could spend a full two weeks there without the concerns of returning to the UK and needing to immediately start another semester.

Al realized that he and El were dreamers. Susan and Charlie were realists. They weren't evil, they weren't deliberately being mean to El, they were trying to help in the only way they knew how.

And in a manner, Ellie had told him that, the day he'd been watching her paint. She'd told him Susan meant well. Al finally saw that she did. In her own way, an incredibly different way from how Al would have preferred, Susan meant well, Susan loved well.

Al was pulled out of his internal realizations by the sound of his lock turning, and his mind filled with questions as Ellie slipped inside his flat.

Susan didn't bother to speak, she jumped up and pulled Ellie into a fierce embrace.

"I'm sorry for scaring you," Ellie hugged her back. "I promise, from now on I'll keep my phone's sound up so I don't miss your calls."

"Thank you," Susan's voice cracked slightly and Al moved to clean his phone again to try and create some distance between him and this relatively private moment playing out before him.

It wasn't more than a few seconds though before Susan pulled away. "I'll see you tomorrow night then?"

"Yes, ma'am," Ellie smiled and hugged her aunt again.

"Thank you for letting me wait, Al." Susan nodded to him and Al gave her a small smile.

Ellie showed her aunt out and Al waited until he couldn't hear footsteps anymore to speak.

"Merlin, El, how did you pull that off?"

Ellie chuckled before opening the door and making her bags against the outer wall visible before pulling them inside.

"Dad and Mum paid for an emergency Portkey back for me. Nmi' thinks we should have just told them we're all magical, but Mum still thinks that's a really bad idea so we went with this instead."

Al gathered her into his arms, "I'm sorry you had to cut your trip so short."

Ellie nuzzled his chest and smiled. "It's alright, it just means I get a night with you instead."

Al hummed and looked at the clock on his wall. "It's only half nine, do you want to go hit a pub or stay in?"

"The last hour has been stressful, I vote to stay in," Ellie smiled up at him.

"Let me put my book away and we can pull out some ice cream and you can tell me about your four hour holiday."

Ellie giggled as she pulled her arms away. Al picked up his phone and popped it back into its case, something that had saved his phone from gravity on more occasions than he cared to count.

Al stopped.

He popped the case off again, then back on, then off to run his hand over the screen protector he had carefully stuck on the screen within hours of getting this phone, then he put the case back on and turned his phone over and over again in his hand.

"I'm the biggest idiot!"

"What's wrong?" Ellie jumped to his side.

"Why am I trying to change technology that works just fine when I could be trying to find ways to protect it from magic instead?!"

Al fisted a hand in his hair and swore.

"Merlin! All these years and all I really needed to work on was a phone case! Think of it El! You buy a phone, and to protect it against falls by sticking on a screen protector and slipping it in a case. Why am I not just modifying those same things to also protect against magic?!"

"Al," Ellie grinned, "Al that's genius! Why has no one done this already?"

Al shrugged, "Probably because I'm the only one stupid enough to care about it right now."

"Careful," Ellie grinned, "I care about this, so your last comment implies some unpleasant things."

Al couldn't be flustered by her teasing, he was too excited. Instead, he kissed her.

"Let's get my laptop out," he pulled back after a moment, "I need to buy some Muggle phone cases to modify."

El kissed him again before smirking against his lips. "Then later maybe I can talk geeky to you."

Her laughter as he kissed her only spurred him to kiss her further.


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: See you again November 23rd.**

There's a point in most inventors' lives where the invention takes over them. Where they eat sleep and breathe it. Everything takes second chair to the invention, making it work, getting it to the next point, researching it. Al thought that this point had already come and gone for him, and that it had led him to go to university.

Al was wrong.

That time was now.

Al barely scraped through his finals for the summer semester, his high grades up to that point carrying him through. He was constantly begging Uncle Neville to let him into Hogwarts' library and scouring through the books for hints about what spells might help him. He went home with El one night to simply pick John's brain for anything that could help. Al forgot to respond to text messages, return phone calls, and emails. He frequently forgot to eat and often didn't realize he should go to bed until after five in the morning.

He was constantly thinking about how to make this phone case, and it was complicated. It needed to be able to be enchanted while still being in contact with the phone, and he needed to be able to use the same methods on the screen protectors.

There was a lot to figure out!

At least that's what his brain shouted anytime Al began to feel like a bad person for having fallen off the face of the Earth.

He was pouring over a book he bought that morning, or maybe it was last night...it was recently, he was sure of that - when his bedroom door opened.

He looked up to see a rather determined-looking El.

"When was the last time you checked your phone?"

Al blinked, "Er…"

"Alright," she moved closer, "what was the last thing you ate?"

Al furrowed his brow, "It was, er, I think…"

"Well then," she sat on his work table where he was reading, "could you venture to tell me what day it is?"

"Wednesday," Al grinned, feeling far too chuffed. He knew it was Wednesday because he'd set alarms for all his Fall classes after he missed two of them. Several weeks in and Al was sure that was the only reason he wasn't failing his courses.

"Wrong," Ellie made a sound like a buzzer, "it is eight o'clock Thursday morning."

Al blinked. That couldn't be right. He began rummaging around for his phone before finally remembering it was in the safe box.

"I don't have class on Thursday until two," he tried to look less frantic as he retrieved the safe box and his phone.

"Al, I think you need help, or maybe you need to choose between your course load and your inventing, or simply do something different, because you're not alright." Ellie sighed as Al turned his phone back on and dozens of missed notifications began sounding.

Al tried to separate everything in his brain but couldn't seem to think straight. Every thought was a jumbled mix of spell books and Muggle textbooks and trying to make the two merge, and then random pieces of his courses jumped in for an extra touch of confusion.

"Al, love," Ellie reached out and took his hand in hers, "maybe you should try and get some sleep before your class."

"You're not at work," was all he finally managed to say.

"Nope," she grinned, "your obsession over this has made me quite worried about you, so I asked one of the other servers to switch a shift with me, skived a couple of classes for it, and now I'm here to give you the chance to come to your senses. If not," she set down a card on his table and slid it towards him, "you gave me permission a while back to use this if necessary."

Al stared down at Ellie's old card he'd used to write his parents' names and numbers on when he'd been trying to assure her that he wasn't a stalker.

"You'd, wait, would you really, you think, El I'm alright, I promise." Al turned his gaze up to El and was met with the force of a grizzly bear in her stare.

"I don't believe that for one second," she held his gaze and Al momentarily wondered what it would be like to kiss her in her current frame of mind.

But then she hopped off the table and pulled on his hand until he stood.

"Now, go shower, then you're going to eat something, and then you're going to bed."

"It's fine, El, really," Al hedged, looking back down at this book.

"Would your mum say this is fine?" El smirked at him.

Al heaved a sigh and shook his head.

El wrapped him in her arms and held him for a long moment. She rested her head against his chest and he could feel her chest rise and fall slowly against him. After what was probably only a minute but felt like five, she spoke.

"There," she smiled up at him.

"What?" Al could feel the fatigue seeping into his brain.

"Your heart rate slows down when I hug you."

She pressed her lips up to his for a soft kiss and Al felt a part of his brain push through the fatigue enough to simply point out that El was probably right about all this.

"Now go shower," she murmured against him, "because I love you, but you stink."

Al gave her chuckle. "Maybe, but I'm not nearly as bad as Dad when he gets back from some of his undercover missions."

Ellie laughed and gave him a gentle push toward his door. "I'm sure. Go get clean, I'll make breakfast."

Al had to admit that he did feel better after his shower. He also felt like maybe he ought to reread the chapter he'd been on. So he picked up the book on his way to the little table.

El had made the spinach omelet that he normally ordered when he went to the diner and Al smiled.

"You're pretty amazing, you know?"

He looked up at her, expecting to see her bright smile. Instead, Ellie was frowning at his open book next to him.

"Alright, El?"

El continued to frown at his book. "Tuck in, then get some sleep."

She moved to the sofa and picked up her hoodie.

"You're leaving?" Al felt blindsided.

She sighed before looking up at him. "When you have time for me again, let me know."

And quietly, Ellie slipped out the door.


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: I won't be posting next week because it's a holiday week here in the US and I'm helping put on the meal and host family and whatnot. But I'll see you all on December 7th! If I get the time I'll try and get a bit further ahead and make that post a double chapter week. :)**

Al was completely lost to what had happened!

He didn't eat the omelet, he didn't sleep before his class, and he couldn't focus on the textbook either.

It didn't make sense!

In frustration, he grabbed his phone to text El as much, but then noticed the text messages and emails and missed calls and voicemails.

He started with the voicemails, realizing that he should probably make sure no one was dying while he was trying to solve the next big step in bettering Wizarding and Muggle relations.

_"Al, it's Dad, wanted to know if you've talked with Ellie yet about coming to dinner. Also wanted to see how you were holding up after our chat. Love you, son."_

Al grimaced. That conversation with his dad was almost three months ago.

_"Al, call your mother, you know, the woman who gave you life? Love you, dear."_

Al sighed, his mum was going to kill him.

_"Hey, mate, were you going to completely skive off on study sessions this term? We could use your help here."_

Al frowned, Craig needed his help? In which course?

_"Hey Al, it's Henrik. Do you have the notes from last class? I was pretty ill and I'm trying to figure out what I missed. Call me."_

Al groaned when he looked at the date for that message. They'd already tested for that section.

_"Hi love, I wanted to see if you got my texts. I missed you last week and today. I have some new paintings on display in the art building, I thought you'd like to come see them. Love you."_

Al paused and looked at the voicemails. The vast majority were from Ellie. He moved to the missed texts from her and groaned at the number of them.

**Ellie:** Miss you.

**Ellie:** Are you going to make it to breakfast tomorrow?

**Ellie:** Aunt Susan wanted to know if you'd like to come to dinner? Do you think you could manage Saturday night?

**Ellie: **Did your dad lock you in Azkaban?

**Ellie:** Miss you.

Al stopped reading and groaned. He'd royally screwed up with everyone, but specifically with Ellie. Problem was, he wasn't sure how to fix all of it. He was reasonably certain a text apologizing wasn't going to get him very far, but he also still felt the burning need to make this phone casework.

Could he have both?

He didn't have much time to think it through because a moment later his fireplace burned green and in walked his mother.

Great.

She looked around the flat and sighed, "Oh dear."

"At least I know El is a woman of her word." Al let his head drop to the table.

Ginny was quiet but Al heard her pull the chair out next to him and sit down.

"I'm doomed, Mum," Al bemoaned. "My brain can't stop, I have to keep trying to make this work, I can't stop thinking about it. It's consuming, and it's just going to burn me from the inside out and I'll lose everything trying to make this work."

"What makes you so sure?" His mum's voice was what her children referred to as her _you have to figure this out on your own_ voice.

"I know what you're doing," Al turned his head against the table to look over at her.

"Then you can get right to it and not fight me on it," she smiled down at him.

Al groaned and turned his head back to look down at his tabletop, noticing that it wasn't nearly as clean as he preferred.

"It's what all the signs point to. I'm bound to end up alone with my work because I can't manage to get control of my own actions long enough to keep a good thing going."

"You're a bit dramatic today, my dear."

Al rolled his eyes at the familiar barb. He wondered if his dad ever got tired of hearing that. Al knew he was currently tired of it.

"Is it really dramatic if it's true?" Al rolled his head to look up at her again.

"You do realize that you've asked me that with your head forlornly pressed into your table, right?" Ginny didn't keep the smirk off her face.

Al rolled his head back and let out something between a groan and a sigh.

"I've cleared my schedule today, Albus," he heard her lean back in his old chair, "we can spin through this all day."

Al brooded silently. He didn't want to talk this through, he didn't want to fix things, he wanted to sit in his misery and accept his fate.

What was the point of trying to fix all this when he'd just slip back into it again?

While Ginny may have cleared her schedule, her patience was obviously of a different mind.

"Your dad once felt the same as you do."

Al rolled his eyes before realizing she couldn't currently see them.

"It was shortly after I'd started back at Hogwarts for my final year." She continued without prompt. "He was training with the Aurors as well as working with them to round up what was left of Voldemort's cronies, and he managed to not write to me for a month. I'm sure you can imagine I wasn't pleased with it. Your dad showed up to the first Hogsmeade visit feeling rather low, and we talked about it. He was worried that the way everything was going, he was going to end up spending his whole life consumed with fighting dark wizards and the dark arts and I would end up on the back burner and eventually drop him for it."

Al rolled his head back over to look at his mum, "I've never heard that story."

"Your dad isn't particularly proud of it dear, as I'm sure you're not particularly proud of where you've found yourself today."

Al grimaced.

"What we ended up discussing was that he needed balance in his life. Your dad had been spending nearly half of his life at that point fighting Voldemort and saving his friends in some fashion. He needed to learn how to have space in his life for more than that."

Al frowned, "I'm like Dad, aren't I?"

Ginny smiled, "And Ellie is someone who can give you balance if you let her." She patted Al on the shoulder, "I rather like that young woman, dear, if you think she's worth it, do try to keep her around. Up until recently, it had been rather nice to have my son around."

She stood up and moved towards the grate, but Al sat up and spoke before she could reach for the floo powder.

"Mum, how did Dad make it up to you, him forgetting to write?"

Ginny smiled fondly, "He finally bought a new owl."

Al frowned, "What?"

"He did something that was hard for him. Your dad loved his first owl, Hedwig, and replacing her told me what he was willing to do to keep our relationship a priority."

Al nodded, "Thanks, Mum."

Ginny moved back to him and wrapped him in a hug. "I love you, Al, and I know you can fix this."

Al grinned as he hugged her back. He was going to fix this, and he was pretty sure he knew exactly how to do it too.


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: We're back, and you get two chapters this week! =D See you again on December 13th.**

Al gambled a bit and decided on Saturday after the diner closed to make his move. He knew he was putting almost three whole days in between her walking out and his attempt at fixing everything, but he absolutely refused to do this over text or a phone call. It felt wrong on so many fronts.

And he did have a lot of fixing to do on all relationship fronts to go with it. So it wasn't as though he moped about his flat the whole time. Al made a point of making it to the Friday night study session with his Computer Science mates and the Saturday lunch session with his Computer Engineer mates and had lunch with his parents on Friday and caught up on his coursework. He went for a shop so he wasn't eating the scraps that were left in his kitchen. He slept for longer than three hours Thursday and Friday night.

And he cleaned his flat from top to bottom.

When Saturday afternoon rolled around, Al felt human again. Which meant he also keenly felt how much he'd screwed up with Ellie and his friends and his family.

But he'd managed to start making amends with his friends and family, so Al ventured to hope it wasn't too late for him to start making amends with El too.

After all, she did say to let her know when he had time for her again. Al reasoned that was an indication she didn't want a permanent goodbye.

At least that's what he told himself for the millionth time as he knocked on Charlie and Susan's door.

Charlie grunted when he opened the door. "I knew you weren't an idiot."

Al blinked, "Pardon?"

"Come on, then," Charlie pushed the door open a bit wider and nodded Al inside.

Al stepped in, waiting for Charlie to elaborate, but he didn't seem inclined as he led Al up the steps to the small sitting room.

"Susie," Charlie called as they stepped through the door frame. "Grab Eliza for me, please."

Then he turned to Al, "Have a seat, Potter."

Al nodded but couldn't keep his brow from furrowing. "Mr. Pritchett, what did you mean at the door?"

"Exactly what I said," Charlie sat down in a high backed cushioned chair and pulled out his paper.

Al held back his groan and tried to think of the right question to ask as he moved his backpack off his shoulder.

"What about me ensured you I wasn't an idiot?"

"That right there," Charlie didn't look up from his paper. "You know when to push back. You know how to keep going to get what you want."

Al frowned and felt a bit of trepidation, "What has Ellie told you of our relationship?"

"Nothing," Charlie turned the page of his paper.

Al felt relieved. He still felt a great deal of guilt for how he'd violated El's privacy at the beginning, and if she'd shared that, Al thought he might implode.

"Well then, Mr. Pritchett, I'm going to push back again. How do you know that about me?"

Finally, Charlie looked up from his article. "You stopped me from closing the door that first day you came here. Not many boys will stop a man like me from closing his own front door. You did."

Al felt a small smile pull on his lips. But before he could answer, Ellie walked in, white paint smeared in her hair, green on her hands, light blue splattered a bit on her face, looking a bit like freckles.

But she wasn't smiling.

"Hi," her voice even lacked the tone he'd come to love.

Al stood and gave her a small smile, "I want to apologize, and I'd like to talk if you'd be comfortable with that."

El looked pensive before sighing, "Come on, I still have paint on my palette."

Charlie didn't look up from his article as Al grabbed his backpack and followed El up the stairs, but he grunted quietly.

"I was right."

Al bit back his chuckle.

Ellie led him to her room but didn't look back at him as she sat back down at her paint-covered folding chair. Al forgot how cramped her little room was. They'd been spending most of their time at his flat or her parents' home and El's little closet of a room faded into the background of his memory.

Al kicked off his shoes and sat down on Ellie's bed and looked around. It felt so much like their second date. Today she was working on a single canvas, and it was past the ugly stage. He could see it was a nighttime snowscape, with beautiful evergreens covered in snow. But he paused when he saw on the paint on her palette - bright colors, neon colors. Greens and pinks and purples so bright they seemed completely out of place. Al watched entranced as El picked up one of her several brushes and carefully applied her paint before bringing color to her black sky.

Suddenly her painting went from tranquil and beautiful to awe-inspiring and breathtaking as she carefully painted in the Aurora Borealis.

Al nearly forgot the whole mess he was in as El's paintbrush convinced him he was actually in Northern Sweden in January, watching the Aurora dance across the sky as his breath materialized before him and crusted snow crunched beneath his booted feet. It wasn't until Ellie rinsed her paintbrush in her water cup for the final time and set it aside in exchange for her paint pen to sign the painting that Al remembered he had some explaining to do.

"Er, Ellie, I…" he waited for her to turn around but she kept his back to him.

Al fisted a hand in his hair and pushed on anyway. "I am sorry, El, more than I can say."

Ellie nodded, "I know, Al."

Al wished she would turn around and look at him, but he didn't dare push her farther than she wanted to go. So he reached into his bag and pulled out what he hoped would serve him the way buying an owl had served his dad.

Double checking that the door was closed, Al levitated his technology safe box over to rest in front of Ellie.

Ellie pulled back a moment before gingerly taking the box from the air.

"Did you make me one?"

"No," Al paused hoping she'd turn around, but she continued to look down at his box. He sighed and pressed forward.

"I'm giving you my only safe box." Al clenched his first in his hair. "I want you to know that you're more important than my experimenting and that our relationship is more important. We've almost been together a year, El. I love you. I don't want to throw it all away because I got caught up in a pipe dream."

"It's not a pipe dream!"

Finally, she turned and looked at him, but Al saw that same grizzly bear determination in her eyes he'd seen Thursday morning and he momentarily wondered if he ought to scoot further back on her bed.

"What you're doing is important, Al! Don't bemoan your tendency to become myopic because what you're working on has the power to help us start fixing this stupid divided world and I won't have you admitting defeat, as if you have to choose between me and your work!"

Al blinked as she grabbed her wand from her hair and the box disappeared from her lap.

"W-Where's the box?" Al stuttered.

"Back on your desk where it belongs," Ellie sighed and twisted her hair up into a bun before sliding her wand back in to hold it in place.

"Al, I love you, but this isn't a situation of me or the dream. This is learning how to keep both me and the dream in your life."

This woman. This unbelievable woman.

Al thought he might explode with the gambit of emotions coursing through him.

She wanted him to have both! To still be in a relationship with her and still be committed to this invention!

"Merlin, I love you!"

Her returning smile was small, but it was the first smile he'd seen since he showed up and it was glorious.

"I love you too."

"I need help," the words were trying to tumble out of his mouth faster than he could keep up. "I don't know how to balance our relationship and inventing and university and our families."

Ellie chuckled, "You're a bit oblivious sometimes, love."

Al blinked, "Yeah," he nodded, "hence I asked for help…"

Finally, she stood and moved to sit next to him on the bed. "Al, darling, have you ever had a job?"

Al frowned, "I worked summers for Uncle George and Uncle Ron."

"And you had a schedule, right?" Her smile slowly grew.

Al nodded but his frown remained on his face.

"And your classes have a schedule, right?"

Al nodded.

"And don't writers and painters often schedule the time that they'll spend writing or painting?"

Al chuckled and felt his chest tighten with his embarrassment, "Do you schedule in your painting?"

El's smile was now a full-on smirk, "Why, yes I do."

"So I need to schedule my inventing? I don't know…" Al suddenly felt the emotion tightening his chest switch from embarrassment to panic. "What if the right idea strikes when it isn't scheduled time? What if I'm in the middle of a groove and the scheduled time runs out? What if…"

Ellie put a finger to his lips, "Leonardo Da Vinci."

Al was going to go cross-eyed looking down at her paint-smeared finger against his lips.

"Er..."

"We both can look up to him, right? He's a famous painter and an inventor and architect and anatomist and so many other things."

She slowly pulled her finger from his lips and Al fought the urge to follow her hand.

"Right…" He blinked and tried to get his head back in gear.

"Al, Da Vinci had to make time for all of that. He had to make time to paint, make time to invent, make time to work, make time to teach, make time to do what was important to him both intellectually and financially at any given point in his life." She reached out and took his hand. "And that's something all inventors and painters and creators have to do. We have to schedule in balance until it comes naturally for us."

"But what if," Al started again and Ellie rolled her eyes.

"Will you stop thinking of this as if some member of your dad's squad is going to come and throw you in Azkaban for bending the time table a bit? It's a schedule to help you, Al, not make you feel like you're behind bars!"

Al was left feeling rather foolish. "I, I suppose you're right."

El smirked but squeezed his hand. "Please let me help you. It's going to be flexible and it's going to take time and experimenting to make it work, but I promise it's going to help."

Al ran his free hand up her arm to brush his thumb across the light blue paint freckles on her cheek.

"You're rather amazing, you know."

She grinned and Al felt his own smile return.

"Alright, Miss Battiste, show me the ways of Leonardo Da Vinci."

Ellie's smile returned full force and Al took it in for a glorious half a second before kissing her with the enthusiasm of a man who'd been given a second chance at life.

Life with the woman he loved.


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: It's always nice when a holiday scene actually coincides with the holidays. =)**

Ellie had been right. It took a while to work out the kinks in scheduling his time, and some self-discipline to follow it when he was trying to skive off less enjoyable tasks than being with El or working on the phone case, but Al found he was not only happier, he was making more progress on the phone case than he had the months he'd been obsessing over it.

He also managed to get his coursework back in order. Which as the semester came to a close, Al was very grateful for. His GPA was still intact and he was still on the track Aunt Hermione had put him on to graduate in five more semesters.

It also meant that the weekend before Christmas, Al was able to take Ellie home to celebrate with her family. Of course, Susan thought it a grand thing that Al was taking Ellie to spend a day with his family, which Al intended to do, just not today.

Today, he wanted Ellie home.

"Your heart belongs here, you know." Naomi walked up behind him as he watched El and her mum making treats.

"She does," Al smiled at this strange and lovely woman with her silver hair plaited over her shoulder.

Naomi chuckled, "Look closer, Albus. I'm not talking about our Ellie."

Then she patted him on the cheek and moved to help Ellie and Lisa.

Al watched the three women work, his mind tripping over Naomi's words.

He belonged here? Al didn't even know how to drive a car, something he found quite necessary this far out from the center of St. John's. And he wasn't done with university. And his inventing was more or less tied to his parents since they were his source of funding. Al could acknowledge that he wanted to be where El was, and this was where she would be happy, but Al wasn't letting himself get caught up thinking that far into the future. There were too many questions he couldn't answer. There were too many variables to keep track of. And it had the possibility for a rather bleak outcome, so Al ignored the elephant in the room and just enjoyed his relationship with El as it was.

At least until Naomi came along with that simple statement.

Did he belong here?

Then Ellie looked up and winked at him and Al felt the building anxiety ease. The paint that normally covered her was replaced today with flour and sugar and chocolate. Her dark hair was plaited over her shoulder, just like Naomi's, but Ellie wore her wand in the plait, creating a streak of bright white in the center of it.

She was a lot like that contrast in her hair. When everything around her was one way, Ellie was often the brighter, happier way. She found love all around her, and Al often wondered how she could see so much good in everyone, especially him. But despite how much the world around them pushed to discount everything and anything, El insisted on being happy and loving those around her.

Even when they were doing unlovable things, like ignoring her by obsessing over an invention.

Al chuckled, he was pretty sure there would always be things like that between them. He hoped it would because imagining a life where El wasn't constantly helping him step up to a higher plane in their relationship and in life in general wasn't a thought he could stomach.

Maybe he did belong here.

"Al, can you help me out front for a moment?" John came in from the cold. "A string of lights has gone out and I want to get it replaced before it gets dark."

Al nodded and went for the spare coat John was lending him. Al was not prepared for negative one degree Celsius weather by any stretch, but John's spare coat was very warm.

Al's loafers crunched the frozen snow beneath his feet as his breath materialized in front of his face.

"How do you handle it being so cold?" Al shoved his hands in the pockets of the coat.

John chuckled, "It can get down to negative eight around February. This is nothing, especially with the sun still up."

Al chuckled as he helped unclip the lights from the awning over the front porch. Maybe, if he ever did end up living here, he could be like a bird and spend winters back home.

"I suppose when you've spent your whole life here, it's not so bad."

"It took Lisa a few years to get used to it." John smiled warmly at him. "She'd have some good tips for you."

Al suddenly wasn't so cold, at least his face felt red hot upon hearing John's words.

"That's, er, that's good to know."

Al focused on carefully coiling the broken strand of lights they pulled it down.

"You'll have to come when we have time to go out and see the city center dressed up and then head out into Nipugt and see nature frozen and frosted in the white of snow." John handed Al one end of the new string of lights to start clipping it to the awning.

"I'd like that," Al forced a grin and tried to push the implications of John's offer to have Lisa talk to him about transitioning from Britain to St. John's into a dark corner of his mind.

"How much longer do you have at university?" John plugged in the lights before switching the timer on and smiling as the house lit up.

"About two years," Al couldn't help but smile, the lights were even beautiful in the daylight, and John's lights reminded him of home.

"That's good, Ellie's finished in a year and a half." John put a hand on Al's shoulder, "You're a good man Al, we're glad Ellie found you."

Al tried to ignore how his fast his heartbeat as he gave John a small smile.

"Thanks, John, I'm glad she chose me."

John smiled before moving towards the front door. "Let's see about some tea to warm you up. Maybe that first batch of sugar cookies will be done."

John leaned a bit closer and spoke in a low voice as they removed their coats in the entryway. "The secret is to ask if anything needs to be frosted. Lisa always hands the frosting of the cookies off to anyone else."

Al chuckled, "I'll follow your lead."

John winked at him, "Good man."

As it turned out, John's plan worked and Al found himself with a mug of steaming tea and the task of frosting the sugar cookies the ladies had made.

However, Ellie seemed intent on eating everything he frosted before it could sit on the plate for longer than two seconds.

"My Grandma Molly would tell you you're going to spoil your dinner." He chuckled.

"I haven't had Mom's sugar cookies in two years," she stuck her frosting covered tongue out at him, "I'm making up for lost time."

"There will be plenty, dear," Lisa pulled another batch from the oven and turned off the timer.

"Doesn't Susan make these too?" Al grinned as El relieved him of the freshly frosted cookie in his hand.

"No," Lisa shook her head, "I have a friend from the States who lives closer to town and she taught me to make these."

"Aunt Susan prefers gingersnaps and gingerbread," El mumbled through her bite of cookie. "I'll get you some when we take me back tomorrow."

Al chuckled and used his thumb to wipe away the frosting that had ended up on her cheek. El stuck her tongue out to swipe at his thumb and winked at him.

This woman.

"Help me with dinner, Mijua'ji'j."

Naomi's voice reminded Al that his thoughts weren't necessarily his own, and he quickly made a point to move them to a less intimate level.

Ellie, however, seemed unperturbed as she stood, snagging one more cookie before moving to help.

Al watched as Naomi orchestrated the preparations for what she had called a Jiggs dinner. Turkey and salted beef and vegetables and butter tarts and something Ellie had called snowballs but they were chocolate, instead of white like the snow around them. It felt like a calmer version of being with his extended family at Grandma and Grandpa Weasley's.

And Al felt at home. It was strange, to feel so comfortable in a still relatively new setting, but Al found himself enjoying it. The Muggle Christmas songs playing through the telly, the laughter of the Battiste family, the new smells, and the new sounds.

And then Naomi's words from earlier whispered again that his heart belonged here.

Al chose to believe, just for that moment, that he could belong here, that he could make it all work out, just so long as he had Ellie at his side, he could maybe make it work, somehow, someday.


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N: I'll post again either the 20th or the 21st, I'm not entirely positive yet. I love Christmas time, even though it cuts into my writing time – and my posting schedule. ;)**

Christmas gave way to the new year and the new year to the following semester and life picked up much the way it had been before. Al's daily schedules were color-coded in spreadsheets on his phone and laptop, and he'd come to rely heavily on them. The guarantee of fitting things in along with the flexibility to adjust when he needed to, left him feeling liberated.

It also left him with guaranteed time spent with El, which was always a good thing.

"Aunt Susan wants us to have dinner with them on Sunday again." Ellie flipped the page of the textbook in her lap.

Al opened his calendar app, and added a new event, "Sounds like a plan, what time?"

"Five," Ellie pushed the book from her lap to the coffee table, "but you can come over whenever you want to."

Al chuckled, "I really ought to just give you access to my calendar and let you enter in events. You'd need to set reminders so I see them, but it would make things easier."

Ellie rolled her eyes at him but smirked, "You sound like my dad. He just tells everyone to ask Mom if they can make it to something, and tells Mom to make sure she reminds him the night before of anything."

Al felt the familiar pull of anxiety over how close he was growing with El but pushed it away. He was determined to enjoy their relationship, not freak out about an uncertain future.

"Your dad's a smart man, El," Al forced himself be light about Ellie's comment, and even managed to chuckle.

"I really like that you get along with my family." Ellie's smile went soft and Al felt all his discipline to continue studying start slipping.

"Well, I have to admit, your grandma made me more skittish than a unicorn, and I really came close to hating Susan and Charlie there for a bit. But I'm learning to like your aunt and uncle. I don't agree with the majority of what they say, but I'm trying to remember that just because we don't see eye to eye doesn't mean that they're bad people."

Ellie raised an eyebrow at him, "And what about 'Nmi?"

Al chuckled, "I'm working on accepting that if she wants to know what I'm thinking, she's going to know. But your mum pointed out to me that Naomi doesn't use what she finds against anyone. And when I think about it more as a quirk, like my Grandma Molly's hugs, which are usually so tight you can't breathe, it helps take some of the discomfort and awkwardness out of the situation."

Ellie leaned back on the sofa and smiled. "Yeah, when you grow up with it, it doesn't seem weird at all. As a little kid, I thought all older women could read my thoughts."

Al laughed, "Were you young enough your parents could pass it off as make-believe?"

"I'm not sure if they ever needed to explain it away. But I was five or six, so that's probably what they did. Was that your parents go-to?"

"Yep, anytime we interacted with Muggles and one of us said too much, Mum or Dad would always lightly comment on what a vivid imagination we had."

Then Al had a thought. "El, are your mum's parents still around?"

Ellie nodded. "They've retired to the West Indies. I've met them twice, but they seemed nice. They send me a tenner for Christmas every year."

Al stopped breathing for a moment as he tried to remember that just because these grandparents had little interest in Ellie didn't make them evil people.

"Are, er, do you have cousins on either side?" Al asked more to distract him from his current freak out.

"On Dad's side yeah, most of them have moved away from St. John's but they usually make it back for Christmas since my dad's siblings all still live on the Rock. But it's just me on Mom's side."

Ellie pulled her feet under her and studied Al as he processed what she'd told him.

His initial emotion was rage at grandparents who didn't care more than a tenner once a year for their only grandchild. Then he felt guilty at having been in a relationship with El for nearly a year and only now just discovering that she had family outside of who he'd met thus far. But then his indignation returned at said family who he might never meet. And then the guilt returned as he remembered his immediate assumptions about Susan and Charlie, and how wrong he'd been.

"You need to calm down," Ellie's frown interrupted his internal monologuing. "I don't know what's going on in your brain right now but tell it to stop."

Al fisted a hand in his hair, "Sorry, emotional overload."

Ellie pulled his hand from his hair, "Talk it through."

Al really didn't like it, talking through his emotions. It was hard and felt incredibly awkward the whole way through. However, as much as he hated to admit it, talking it through usually helped, and so Al determined to keep at it.

"I guess first, I'm astounded that anyone could ignore you, that anyone could be capable of only caring a tenner a year about your existence." Al brought his hand up to his hair again. "And then I feel like a wanker because I've been your boyfriend for almost a year and I'm just now thinking of asking if you have family outside of who I've met. And then I feel guilty because maybe I'm judging your mum's parents too quickly the way I did with Susan and Charlie. And it's spinning in circles around all of that and it's overwhelming."

Ellie scooted closer to him. "Al, you're a good boyfriend. If you weren't, I wouldn't stick around."

Al shook his head, "You deserve so much more, El."

Ellie laughed, "Al, you're choosing not to see a lot of my imperfections right now, and trust me," she smirked up at him, "I don't mind. But remember that I have my own issues too. I'm not perfect."

"I know," Al groaned, "I guess I'm just protective of you, is all."

Ellie gave him a cheeky grin, "So this is not the time to tell you about one of the patrons that comes into the diner frequently and ogles me as I walk?"

Al felt his whole body grow hot before his logical brain caught up.

"I bet he's a gangly git whose hair can't seem to lay straight."

Ellie's smile grew wider before she leaned in and kissed him.

"He's the most handsome man I know." She murmured against him.

"He's the luckiest prat in Britain," Al pulled her back to him.

Ellie did eventually pull back, but she rested her head against his chest.

"Since we're sharing family stuff, when do I get to meet your siblings and cousins and the lot?"

Al pushed his head back into the cushions of his sofa.

"Why is it so bad that I want to keep you to myself?"

"You don't seem to mind sharing me with my family."

"That's an entirely different matter."

Ellie sat up, "Your parents are wonderful, you have nothing but good things to say about your brothers and sister, and you love me. What is the problem?"

Al looked away, "I don't like change?"

"Please let me in, Al, please let me be a part of your entire life, not just the parts that are easy to share."

What was he supposed to say to that?

"Can we get through midterms?" Al looked back at her. "I'll talk to Mum and we can plan a family dinner and I'll make sure Ted and Jamie and Lily know I'm bringing my girlfriend. They won't miss when I tell them that."

Ellie smiled, "Thank you. That sounds perfect."

Al pulled her back to lay against his chest again.

"How are you not nervous? I was terrified when I met your family."

"I am scared," Ellie said against his chest, "But fear blocks good things from happening. And meeting your siblings is a good thing."

"So you just let both emotions run simultaneously but give preference to one over the other?" Al mused.

"Exactly."

Al smiled as Ellie snuggled closer to him on the sofa. It made sense, what she said. He more or less did the same thing when he first determined to get her home. He was pretty sure he had felt a million things that evening, but he had given priority to the most important one.

And then it hit him.

The phone case needed multiple spells at the same time. And his work had been stuck in trying to find the right combination.

But what if he could give priority to the spells the way he could with code?

"El, can you hand me my phone?"

Ellie pulled his phone from the coffee table before looking up at him quizzically.

"Everything alright?"

"Yeah," Al made a note in his phone, "I just had an idea for the phone case I wanted to write down."

"You don't want to go try it out right away?"

"No," Al tossed his phone back on the coffee table and wrapped his arms back around El, "Right now, I want to be with you."

Priorities.


	21. Chapter 21

**A/N: This is it until 2020, my friends! Happy Christmas! Happy New Year! And I'll be back with more stories on January 4th.**

**A/N: Thank you, GryffindorHealer, for the name Potterbox!**

**A/N: Also, Portent is technically the next chapter in this story, but I won't post it here. Just hop over to my stories (it was posted on May 17, 2019) and enjoy Jamie and Ted finding out about Ellie a little sooner than Al had planned. ;)**

It required a few trips to the Hogwarts library, but Al finally found out that he could give priority to spells the same way he could to computer code, and that was the breakthrough.

Well, the first part at least.

The phone case did beautifully in keeping his phone from dying whenever he did magic around it or used magic to move it.

But the phone couldn't receive calls or make calls or access the WiFi or use data or send texts or anything else that had it accessing the cellular network or WiFi when magic was being used. The phone functioned exactly as it should unless Al was using magic

Then his mobile stopped being a communication device until the magic stopped.

At least it kept technology from dying completely around magic, Al had reminded himself again and again. And it helped that Ellie loved her new phone case.

"Can I paint it?"

She turned it over excitedly in her hands.

"I guess so," Al said as they rummaged through his cupboards for what they needed for dinner. "You'll want to put that white stuff on it first, like all the other cases you've painted."

Ellie grinned as she popped the case on. "Have you thought of what you're going to call it?"

"It doesn't even work properly, El," he shook his head, "So no, I'm not thinking about marketing right now."

Ellie rolled her eyes at him, "You'll make it work, you always do."

Al hoped she was right.

"Merlin! I know just the name!" Ellie cried out causing Al to drop the pasta box. "You should call it a 'Potterbox'!"

Al stooped to pick up the box as El's words processed.

Then he laughed, and then he laughed harder, and then he was gripping his stomach as his body and mind finally found an outlet for the strain the case not working right had put on him.

"That's absolutely bril, El," he reached out for her as he tried to calm himself, loving how quickly she agreed to come into his embrace. "You're a right gem, you know that?"

Ellie grinned up at him and slid her arms around his neck and pushed up just a fraction on her toes. "I always enjoy hearing it."

"I'll set a reminder to tell you more often then," Al teased, slowly closing the distance between them.

"If I hear any of them I'll take your phone case off and levitate it into the pond." El smiled and tilted her lips towards his.

"I'll just have to be sneaky then, won't I?"

Al finally brought his lips to hers and couldn't help but enjoy the easiness of it. They'd been together a year now and he knew her. He knew what she liked and what she didn't in so many aspects. He knew what to do if he wanted her to smile against him, or to laugh, or to grip her fingers in his hair. And it felt like home.

The oven clock read a bit later when they managed to get back to making dinner.

"Have you called your mom yet to set up a time for me to meet everyone?"

Al tried to look relaxed, even when his gut reaction was to curl in on himself.

Midterms had been over for almost two weeks now, and he still hadn't managed to make himself follow through on his promise.

"Er, I was planning to do it tonight actually."

Maybe it would be easier if he had El with him and put the phone on speaker. Maybe she'd get excited and just ask for him. Or maybe his mum would be so excited to have El on the line that he and El would conveniently forget to bring it up because his mum would want to know everything that had been going on since the last time they had lunch with his parents.

"No time like the present, love." Ellie smiled sweetly at him.

Al held in his groan of protest.

"Sure," he tried to sound confident, "I'll just put it on speaker."

Al tapped the picture of his home to call the landline.

"Potter's," his mum's voice came with the sound of typing in the background.

Al sighed, she must have been on a deadline which meant this call would need to be straight to the point or she'd ask to call him back.

Wait, maybe that was a good thing…

"Hi, Mum, how are you?"

"A bit busy dear, is this important or can I call you back?"

Ellie looked up at him and Al knew from the look on her face he was balancing on a knife-edge.

"Just wanted to set up a day to bring Ellie over and introduce her to my siblings, perhaps over dinner?"

The typing stopped.

"That sounds wonderful! How does Sunday sound?"

Al looked at El and she smiled.

"That sounds perfect, Ginny," Ellie said.

"Wonderful! I'll send owls to Jamie and Ted and I'll let Lils know tonight when she gets home from Dominique's."

Al tried to calm the anxiety in him with a deep breath. "Thanks, Mum, we'll let you get back to work. Text me with what to bring and we'll see you Sunday."

"Perfect! Love you both!"

Ellie beamed. "We love you too!"

Al slid his phone back into his pocket and turned to see the water boiling on the stove.

"That went well, right?" He asked as he poured the pasta into the pot.

"Exceptionally so," Ellie winked at him. "But I think you could use a nerdy documentary to relax to. So why don't you go and pick something while I get the sauce going?"

Al pulled her in for a quick kiss before she pushed him toward the telly. He had been making a point to find documentaries that were applicable to his experimenting to help Ellie start to learn a little bit about what he was doing on a scientific level. But today he decided on a documentary that focused on quantum mechanics because it just seemed appealing.

Snuggled up on the couch with El, bowls of pasta in their hands, Al let his mind unwind as the narrator took them through the basics of quantum physics.

"So there's really space between everything?" Ellie asked enthralled.

Al nodded, "Yep, you don't actually touch anything, you just get close enough to function on a macro scale. There's space between every molecule of oxygen and nitrogen and hydrogen and all the other gases that make up the air we breathe."

"I wonder if magic is in the space between everything." Ellie mused as she continued to stare at the screen.

Al felt everything in his brain shift.

What if Ellie was right? What if there was magic in the space between. What if he could pull magic from those in-between spaces? What if he could pull magic from in between the waves of WiFi and cellular signals?

Tomorrow was Thursday. Al smiled. He'd have all morning tomorrow to see if Ellie was right, and he'd bought a few old routers recently too. He had everything he needed, and tomorrow he'd find out if the answers to making technology and magic work lay in the quantum world.


	22. Chapter 22

**A/N: H****appy New Year! Here's to a year full of growth and joy for all of us! I'll have another chapter for you on January 11th!**

**A/N: Go read Portent first if you didn't read it after Chapter 21 (it's actually Chapter 22 of this story but I won't be posting it here) then read this. ;) **

"It's been great having you around, lads." Al grinned after tucking his wallet back into his pocket. "But I've got classes to get to."

Ellie had kissed him when she'd handed back his card and Al's high spiked again. Not even the impending finals prep was enough to bring him down.

"Al," Teddy put his hand on Al's shoulder, "I'm, I'm sorry."

"Me too," Jamie nodded. "I didn't think that someone could use a wand as a hair thing."

"You can make it up to me by accepting Mum's invite to dinner for Sunday. It's El's and my idea, and I'm bringing El to introduce her to everyone."

Jamie laughed, "Dad's ruined all of us."

Al stopped walking, "What?"

"Dad never calls Mum, Ginny, always Gin. I'm pretty sure the only time you've called Vic by her full name was at your wedding, Ted." Jamie smirked at Al, "And you're calling Ellie, El."

Al shook his head and started again towards his flat, "And I've never heard you call Allie, Alice. You're just as bad as we are."

"Of course I am," Jamie grinned. "We've been raised with the understanding that shortening names is a form of endearment."

"And we're all named for other people so we have our own names have nicknames as well," Teddy added.

Al chuckled, "You have no idea how weird it is for El's grandma to call me Albus."

"You need a long white beard, I bet Uncle George could help with that." Jamie laughed.

"Wait," Teddy eyed Al, "You've met her grandmother?"

Al nodded, smiling as he thought of the strange fondness he was developing for Naomi.

"How long have you been with Ellie?"

"A bit over a year now."

"A year?" Teddy and Jamie said in unison.

"And we're just now finding out she exists?" Teddy added.

Al sighed as they approached his building.

"I like to keep good things to myself. I'm pretty selfish that way, but El's doing her best to break me of that."

"So…" Jamie paused as if he was trying to find the right words. "If you need a jewelry store recommendation, Allie loves her ring."

Al felt Jamie's words knock the wind out of him.

"I, er, I'll let you know, if, if I need, er…"

"Hey," Teddy put his hand on his shoulder, "We're here if you need someone to talk to alright? Jamie's experience is a bit more recent than mine, but we're both here for you."

Al felt a bit of relief blossom in his chest, "Thanks, both of you."

"We'll see you, Sunday." Then Jamie chuckled. "You know, if I didn't know you as well as I do, I'd almost accuse you of setting us up. We can't tease you at all on Sunday since we sat there and lectured you about telling a witch you're a wizard."

"I'm not that on top of my life," Al laughed, "but I'm glad you stopped by."

Teddy and Jamie stepped over the grate and Al grabbed his pack and headed to class. Trying not to focus too hard on Jamie's offer for a jewelry store. He didn't have a job to have the money to buy a ring (it didn't feel right using his dad's inheritance for it) or the certainty that he and El could make a long-distance relationship work while he finished school, let alone if he was ready to relocate not just his country, but his freaking continent, because he'd never ask El to live anywhere but her home.

Al's internal turmoil was interrupted by his text notification as he sat down at a desk.

**El:** Your brothers are funny. ;) I can't wait for Sunday. Love you.

He felt lighter at just seeing her words.

**Al: **You made a good impression on them too. Love you.

**El:** Want me to bring leftover food from here to reheat tonight?

The professor walked to the front of the room and Al moved his phone to his lap.

**Al:** Sounds good, I haven't had a chance to shop so my cupboards are a bit bare.

**El:** We should definitely make that part of our evening. Now pay attention to your professor, slacker. ;)

Al grinned before sending one more text.

**Al:** Love you.

Then he slid his phone in his pocket and picked up his pen.

Maybe, maybe he'd talk to her about the future. Probably not tonight, but maybe after Sunday. Maybe they could figure something out. Maybe he could come to love St. John's the way Lisa did. Maybe…

Suddenly Craig bumped Al as he slid into his seat, giving a wave to the professor as he did.

"Hey mate," Craig smiled at him, "Work's pretty backed up, had to leave them hanging even with being late."

"You didn't miss anything important," Al whispered as the professor continued to answer questions from the assigned coursework.

"If you want something part-time, let me know." Craig pulled out his notebook. "It'd be nice to have someone competent working with me."

"What do you do again?"

"Run security analytics for companies, fancy talk for I'm trying to hack into all of our clients so we know how to stop the hackers from doing it for real." Craig clicked his pen mindlessly as the class continued to ask questions.

Al felt his phone vibrate and slid it out of his pocket as Ellie's response lit up his screen.

**El:** Love you too!

"Ask me again in the summer," Al whispered to Craig after a moment.

Craig nodded just as the professor moved onto his lecture.

Maybe, maybe Al had a solution to the money problem. Maybe. But he definitely had a deadline for talking to El now. That thought sent his heart racing.

He tried to set all that aside and focus on the lecture. It wasn't like he could have that conversation with her this moment anyway.


	23. Chapter 23

**A/N: See you back on January 18th.**

Al was surprised how calm he felt as Ellie finished getting ready to go. She fastened the necklace holster her dad had made her and slid her wand in it.

"You're staring, love." Ellie turned to look at him.

"You have that effect on me," Al moved to stand next to her in his small bathroom.

"You're rather captivating as well," she smiled up at him.

Al pulled her to him and let himself enjoy holding her as her arms slid around his waist. He should be nervous, panicked even, stress cleaning every square inch of his flat, but somewhere along his journey with Ellie, Al realized he was changing, he was a different person than when he first met El, a better man.

"Care to meet my sisters?"

Ellie grinned, "I've always wanted sisters."

Al laughed, "Lily will love you. That's all she's ever wanted too."

They stepped through the grate and into Al's childhood home.

"She's here! She's here! She's here!"

Al rolled his eyes as Lily came sliding on her socked feet into the sitting room. She'd been out of Hogwarts nearly a year but he still couldn't wrap his head around how a woman stood where his baby sister had been before.

"El, this is my little sister, Lily. Lils, this is my girlfriend, Ellie."

Ellie held out her hand to Lily who promptly knocked it away to hug her.

"Has Al told you how much I love new sisters?"

Ellie blushed, "He did mention you always wanted sisters."

"Be nice Lils," Al pulled Ellie back to him. Then he gave Lily a pointed look. "We should talk, you haven't responded to my letters."

Lily didn't meet his eye, "Been busy."

"We'll talk," Al smiled at her.

Ever since Lorcan had called off his relationship with Lily just before they finished school she'd been distant, and while Al was easily distracted, he was not completely oblivious to how far away Lily had pulled herself.

Al led Ellie to the back garden where he was sure everyone would be. It was his mum's favorite place to entertain.

Al turned to talk to Ellie when a squeal interrupted him and little hands were pulling on his jeans.

"Hey, buddy!" Al scooped up his nephew. "El, this is my nephew, Johnny. He's Teddy's boy."

Johnny looked critically at Ellie before his eyes fell on her wand hanging around her neck. His hair started to turn white as he dove for it with outstretched hands.

"He's a Metamorphmagus?" Ellie's eyes were the size of saucers as Al pulled his nephew out of reach.

"Just like his father and grandmother," Vic came walking in from the back garden. "You must be Ellie. I'm Teddy's wife, Victoire. It's nice to finally meet you."

Ellie took Vic's proffered hand and smiled, "You too. I've heard a bit about everyone from Harry and Ginny, but meeting you all is much nicer."

Vic laughed as Johnny's eyes went green to match Al's. "We're a right crazy lot, but we do try to save some face."

"Speak for yourself," Jamie called out from the patio.

"Let's go introduce everyone to you," Al shifted Johnny in his arms and took El's hand.

On the patio, they found Jamie and Allie stretched out on a blanket on the lawn, Harry, and Teddy at the grill, and Ginny orchestrating the rest of the dishes as they floated out the kitchen window and onto the set table.

"Ellie!" Ginny held out her arms and Ellie immediately moved to hug her.

"Everyone, this is Ellie," Ginny turned to her family. "I'm quite fond of her so be nice."

"You remember Ted and Jamie," Al stepped up beside Ellie to hug his mum. "This is Allie, Jamie's fiance."

Allie smiled and pushed her dark blonde hair over her shoulder as she stood from the blanket. "I'm so glad to meet you. You had Jamie completely flabbergasted at wearing your wand in your hair. He didn't stop talking about it the whole day."

El laughed as she shook Allie's hand. "I was pretty put out when I got my wand and it was so short in comparison to my dad's. So he and my grandma tried to find ways to help me feel better, and Grandma had the idea of giving me ways to wear my wand like jewelry."

"I think the necklace is a great option," Allie nodded to El's wand before sliding Johnny from Al's arms before he realized it.

"Hey!" Al reached back for his nephew but Allie jumped away.

"Don't interfere, Al," his mum smiled at Johnny as Allie set him between her and Jamie. "I'm hoping this will encourage then to have kids sooner. I want more grandchildren."

"Give them time, Gin," Harry chuckled as he turned off the grill. "They aren't even married yet."

Ginny winked at him and Al shook his head with a chuckle.

"So, Ellie," Jamie tickled Johnny's cheeks as he spoke, "Tell us what it's like growing up in Canada."

And that more or less created the exact situation Al had hoped for. His siblings listened captivated as Ellie shared stories about growing up in St. John's, and by the time dinner was finished it felt like Ellie had been around for as long as Vic and Allie had.

Al noticed Lily quietly excuse herself and slip into the house. He waited a few moments before squeezing El's hand and following after his baby sister.

"I'm fine, Al." Lily's voice sounded from the kitchen.

"No, I don't think you are." Al loved Lily, but her determination to put on a good face no matter what was getting tiresome.

"Al, you've been gone for nearly three years, I've changed from what you remember." Lily started the dishes.

"Yeah, you have," Al chuckled at how different Lily looked from what he remembered when he finished Hogwarts. "But I've changed too, and I'm working to be outside of myself more. Which means I'm noticing that you aren't fine."

Lily ignored him as she fussed with the dishes.

Al pulled out his wand and started drying and putting the dishes away as they came out of the rinse water.

"It's alright to be hurt."

"I'm fine, Al." Her voice was tight and Al knew he was making progress.

"You know, Ellie talks about letting the bad things that happen to us be a part of what makes us more compassionate in the future."

Lily clenched her jaw and Al kept going. She needed to break out of this lie that it didn't matter. She needed to let it matter, if only for a few moments before she could move on.

If he'd learned anything from El, it was that the emotions he felt mattered, and what he did with them mattered more.

"And part of developing that compassion is being able to forgive so you can move forward unburdened."

"Forgive?" She screeched at him.

Al felt relief, he'd managed to get her to stop hiding.

"You expect me to forgive him for planning a life with me and then weeks before all those plans are supposed to become a reality to take it all back? Forgive him for saying he didn't think he ever really loved me? Are you insane?!"

Al chuckled, "There is potential that I'm insane, but I'm telling you because forgiveness was what Teddy shoved down my throat when Jamie and I were having our falling out, and..."

"That's completely different!" She cut him off. "You're brothers, you had to fix things so you didn't wreck our family."

"No, Lils," Al pulled her down to the kitchen table and stopped their dishwashing line. "We had to forgive each other so we didn't wreck ourselves. Lorcan has no clue how long you're harboring this grudge, and it's only hurting you. He's living his life. He's doing the things he wants to do. And what are you doing Lily?"

She looked down at the table and shook her head.

"Hating him is only hurting you. I'm not saying anything he did was right. And trust me, if you'd told me what happened when it was actually happening I probably would have hexed him and taken Aunt Luna's wrath for it. Don't pretend like what he did was alright, but stop hurting yourself over it. Forgive him for you. Forgive him so you can move on. Forgive him because you love yourself more than you thought you loved him."

And then it was as though his baby sister was suddenly back, clinging to him as she cried about scraped knees and broken toys. Al held Lily, grateful to finally see some emotion back in his fiery little sister. She'd be alright, he was sure of that now as she let all the emotions run through her tears.

"Thank you," she sniffed before conjuring a handkerchief. "I really needed you to say all that."

"That's what big brothers are for."

"No, that's your specific specialty," Lily gave him a small smile. "You've always been the one to call me out. Teddy always wants to give me time to come around on my own, and Jamie wants to make me feel better with fun and jokes, but you are the one who comes in, wands blazing, and lays it all out on the table for me to see."

She wiped her eyes again, "Thank you."

"I love you, Lils, and I want to see you happy." Al rubbed her shoulder and smiled. "Now let's finish these dishes so we can make Mum bring out dessert."

"There's a reason you're my favorite," Lily grinned.

"You say that to all three of us." Al rolled his eyes.

Lily stuck her tongue out at him, "And it's true every time I say it."

Al let the conversation move to happier things as the finished the dishes. He hugged Lily once more before they returned to the back garden and claiming a spot next to El on Jamie and Allie's blanket.

"You're a good brother," Ellie said it quietly as Jamie told a story from work.

Al smiled at where Lily sat with their mum and dad, "She's a good sister."

"It'll make you a good father."

She said it with such nonchalance that Al wondered if he'd imagined it as the words rendered him unable to speak. But while they were terrifying words, they were also emboldening words.

He placed a small kiss on her cheek. He wanted to be a good father, with a very specific woman by his side.


	24. Chapter 24

**A/N: See you back on January 27th.**

It took some work, but Al managed to schedule in his summer course load to allow for part-time work with Craig. The job cut in on his free time, but it lined his bank account quickly with the money to buy a ring. A ring with implications he still hadn't managed to discuss with Ellie…

It was completely for lack of trying. Al wasn't under any delusions. Finals were his excuse for awhile. Then his excuse was adjusting to the new schedule with the job. Then his excuse was not wanting to spend their limited time together having hard conversations that they might not have the time to finish.

They were lame excuses, but Al wasn't sure how to push past them.

And they stopped him from doing anything more than earning money for a ring for the majority of the summer.

But when El came home from her two weeks in St. John's and the summer term was finished and Al had given his notice, well, his excuses had finally run out. Nothing was holding him back now...except for himself.

He should have done it yesterday. They'd been on a proper date and sitting at dinner or listening to the street performers at the park would have been the idyllic scenario to bring up a temporary long-distance relationship. Maybe not his fears of relocating but definitely the concept of staying together.

However perfect it may have been, he said nothing of the topic and let their conversation revolve around less weighty subjects.

Al had kicked himself for his cowardice and determined it would be today. He texted and invited El to have dinner with him at his flat, something they didn't do terribly often in the summers when she was working six days a week. Al took courage in her immediate response that she'd be there. He ordered her favorite Chinese takeaway so it would be delivered a touch before she arrived, giving them as much time to talk as possible before she'd need to get some sleep seeing as she helped open.

Then he rehearsed, again and again, all the things he wanted to say.

It looked like things would play out alright for him as he set a warming charm on the dinner and El texted him that she was just about ready to pop over. Of course, that was assuming he could calm down. His chest felt tight and he was having to focus on taking slow breaths to keep from feeling light-headed. He dropped his phone ten times in five minutes simply because his palms were sweating so much he couldn't keep a firm grip on it.

And then the pop sounded and El appeared in his sitting room.

"That smells amazing!"

Ellie's grin managed to ease a fraction of his nerves out of him and Al managed to greet her like a proper boyfriend.

"I was craving Chinese and didn't want you to have to eat microwaved leftovers tomorrow." Al even managed to smile after stealing a quick kiss.

Ellie grabbed his hand and pulled him to the table before plopping down and pulling out a pair of chopsticks. She sighed happily and tucked in, and Al lost himself for a moment in how happy she looked.

Was moving continents really so bad if he could enjoy that happy sigh and contented smile for the rest of his life?

"Aren't you going to eat?" Ellie pushed his chopsticks closer to him.

"Oh, right," her words broke his blissful moment and the nerves returned with vengeance.

He dropped the chopsticks as he tried to open them and swore.

"Al, is everything alright?"

Ellie's face no longer held that beautiful contentment that had been there moments before. Instead, Al saw concern, and perhaps uncertainty. It was a far cry from the assurance her former expression instilled in him.

"Nothing's wrong." He licked his lips and swallowed hard.

"But…" Ellie set her chopsticks down and looked at him expectantly.

"I, er, well I, see I've been thinking about how you finish your degree in the spring." Al shoved his hand in his hair as El nodded him on.

"And I still have some time after that to finish out."

Ellie continued to sit quietly as Al stumbled over how he wanted to say this.

"And, you're going back to St. John's and I'll be here...but we'd have Portkeys...and video calls…"

Al realized he was staring down at the table looked back up at Ellie.

His breath rushed out of him as he realized she was smiling at him from ear to ear.

"I really like where this conversation is going, love."

"You're alright with long-distance? I've never done it before, but Mum and Dad have and so have Ted and Vic and they managed it alright and I bet they'd have some good ideas. It was just for school but this would probably be even easier than what they went through since we have technology and…"

"Al," Ellie laughed, "yes, I'm fine with long-distance with you but you've got to stop rambling." She reached across the table and took his hand. "We'll make it work, I promise."

Al chuckled as his mind spun around the feelings of excitement and happiness and mild embarrassment over his rambling, then stooped to pick up his chopsticks.

"Where do you want to be after you graduate?"

Ellie's question caused Al to hit his head on the bottom of the table and he swore again.

"That's not exactly the answer I thought I'd get…" Ellie smirked at him.

Al chuckled and rubbed his head. "I want to be with you."

Ellie tilted her head, "With me where?"

Al felt his shoulders slump forward.

"I want to be with you in St. John's, but it's a pretty terrifying feeling, leaving behind my home basically for good. I mean sure we'd come back for family events and holidays, but I wouldn't live here anymore. I'd be leaving behind everything and I'm trying to get over my fear of that because I love you and I want you to be where you'll be happy, and I know that's St. John's."

Ellie reached back across and pulled Al's hand into hers.

"Relationships are about compromise, Al. Why don't we start with knowing we'll stay together after I move back home. We can keep talking about where we go after you graduate. We've got some time."

Al smiled and squeezed her hand. "You're amazing, you know?"

Ellie grinned, "I always like to hear it."

Al decided to pop Ellie home that evening. As he walked home he realized he was smiling. He felt a lot more confident than he had over the summer, surer about their path ahead. And it felt liberating, like a rucksack full of textbooks had just been dropped from his shoulders.

Now he just needed to come to terms with leaving behind dear old England.


	25. Chapter 25

**A/N: See you back on February 1st.**

Al had become accustomed to his extended family encroaching on his life as he grew up. Someone was always trying to be involved in what everyone else was doing. It was a normal part of such a large family, specifically a family that went through the hell they had. But when Al "went Muggle," as his Grandma Weasley called it, things quieted down considerably.

For one he was harder to contact. He didn't have an owl and wasn't home for long periods throughout the day, causing any owls who were sent to have to wait for him - something none of them thanked him for. Another thing was his heavy course load kept him from the big family gatherings outside of the Christmas ones. And it made it harder to connect with some of his more traditional family members. Uncle Percy, for example, couldn't seem to get his head around Al's reasoning for going Muggle, let alone half of what Al talked about from the Muggle world. So over the last nearly four years, Al had grown accustomed to the distance growing between him and his extended family. It was probably why he felt so at home with El's family, they filled that void a bit for him.

Given all that, Al's jaw nearly fell to the pavement when he pulled out his ringing mobile to see Uncle George's contact card.

"Have you pulled that old brick back out?"

"Hello to you too, my favorite nephew."

"No," Al might have put too much force into his voice, but Uncle George only called you this favorite when he wanted something.

"Now, now, let's not be hasty," George laughed, "Ron and I are in your neck of the woods and thought we'd see if you'd let us stop by."

Al paused about fifty feet from his building door, momentarily debating if he wanted to turn around. But ducking Uncle George had always ended in unpleasant ways.

"What do you mean by my neck of the woods?"

George sighed, "Fine, we're in the shop but we want to talk to you. Can we come visit our dear Muggle embracing nephew?"

Al rolled his eyes as he climbed the stairs to his flat door.

"Sure, my flat is connected to the Floo network and I'm home for the day. I might have company later tonight, but I'm free for the next few hours."

"Hosting unspeakable parties, are you?" George's voice was almost hopeful.

Al set his bag on his desk in his room and rolled his eyes. "If it helps you sleep at night, sure, assume that I'm hosting crass parties as I juggle 22 credit hours."

"I will, but we sell much better juggling balls than those hour ones. Want me to bring you some?"

Al laughed at the seriousness in George's voice. "Maybe another time, see you in a bit."

After disconnecting the call, Al pulled a bag of crisps from his kitchen and three glasses of water before sitting down at his table to wait for the Wheeze duo to arrive.

It was only a few minutes before the fireplace burned green and out walked his two favorite uncles.

"This is why you're my favorite," Ron grinned as he dusted himself off. "It's as clean in here as it is in my home."

"All thanks to your wife, I'm sure," George ribbed.

Al knew better, Uncle Ron was rather good at keeping his home clean and functioning when his entire family wasn't looking over his shoulder all the time.

"So what's the surprise visit for?" Al cut in.

"We can't just want to visit our nephew?" George reached for the crisps.

"I told you he'd see through it. He's too much like Hermione." Ron chuckled.

"Fine," George grumbled, "ruin all my fun."

He turned to Al, "We're here about your box thing."

"Box?" Al gave Uncle Ron a perplexed stare.

"Your mum called it the Potterbox," Ron chuckled. "You realize your dad had to suppress his desire to tell you not to use your last name. Hermione talked him out of bringing it up with you. Pointed out that it would be good to put the focus back on Potter's being inventors rather than world-saving heroes."

Al blinked as his brain caught up. "Mum and Dad told you about the phone case?"

"They told him," George pointed to Ron, "and he told me. We think this has some serious potential for you and the Wizarding World and we want to look into the possibility of getting you into production."

"But they aren't done," Al protested. "They only protect the phone from magic. They don't let you use the phone and magic at the same time."

Ron shrugged, "Fine, show us what it does now."

Al briefly considered telling them no, but quickly realized he was fighting a losing battle. They'd only argue it couldn't hurt anything to show them, and they'd be right. So he swallowed the rest of his objections and pulled out his phone and his wand.

"Shut off your phones," he stood and retrieved the safe box from his room.

George frowned, "Should I have brought mine?"

Ron shook his head as he handed over his, "You'd break yours if you took it out of the Muggle room."

Al chuckled, after Ron, George was definitely the most Muggle wise of the lot, but Ron was right, George tended to ruin his Muggle technology.

"Right," Al picked up his wand, "the case protects the phone from magic entirely."

He levitated it up off the table and grinned as Ron's eyes widened in surprise.

"I can Apparate and use the Floo network with my phone in this case and it still works."

Ron reached out and turned Al's phone to see the screen, lit up and displaying the time.

"So what's the problem?" George frowned at him.

"Here," he handed Ron the bag of crisps, "Levitate this and I'll show you."

Ron took it one step further and started levitating crisps toward George's mouth; who happily crunched on them as they came within munching distance.

Al turned the phone to show how he couldn't connect to WiFi or data; he couldn't get a signal and so the attempted phone call to Ron's mobile didn't go through, and neither did the text message.

"See," Al shook his head. "It doesn't do anything but protect the phone from magic killing it."

George and Ron shared a long look before George grinned.

"I'm in. We could call it the Potterbox Protector. It'll be the base model and then as he gets the kinks worked out we move on to the one that lets you make calls and whatever else. Then we introduce the new Potterbox, the Potterbox Communicator."

"We need something better than Communicator," Ron shook his head. "Protector sounds brilliant, we need something even better when he gets the next iteration done."

"Have you heard nothing I've said?" Al interrupted.

"Yeah, it's not what you want it to be, but what it is right now is still brilliant and I want to sell it." George pulled out his wand and conjured a pen and paper and started jotting down notes.

"But…"

"Al," Ron slid his wand back on his holster and reached for the safe box. "If we sign you on for the Protector then when it's ready for the next phase we'll have production down and ready to move right onto the next, plus we can still sell the Protector as a base model. This case of yours has a lot of potential and we can reach your target audience."

"But…"

"We'll need you to come by and show us your procedure for enchanting the cases." George interrupted. "Ron you're in charge of getting that setup."

"Right," Ron retrieved his phone and stood with George. "I'll text you and we'll find a time around your classes."

"But…"

"You're a right genius, Al," George folded his paper into his pocket. "You'll be as well known as your great-grandfather."

"But…"

"We'll be in touch," Ron pulled Floo powder from his pocket and with a step over the grate, he and George were gone.

Al blinked.

If the half drank glasses of water weren't on his table, Al would wonder if that hadn't been a very strange dream.

His door opened and he spun around to find Ellie walking in.

"Hi, love," she stopped in the doorway, "Is everything alright?"

Al plopped down on the couch with an 'oof'.

"I have no idea."


	26. Chapter 26

**A/N: See you back on February 8th. :)**

Ellie looked at Al and then over at the table.

"Who was here?"

"Uncle Ron and Uncle George," Al stared at the fireplace where the two had disappeared.

"And…?" Ellie waved her wand and sent everything on the table back into the kitchen.

"They want to sell the phone case."

El plopped down next to him. "I take it you aren't thrilled."

"It's not ready!" Al felt like a broken record at this point.

"So tell them your answer is no." El pulled his arm up so she could snuggle against his side.

"I did," Al pulled her closer, willing her proximity to help him understand more clearly what had happened.

"Are they deaf?"

Ellie's voice had an edge to it that cut through Al's emotional confusion. He looked down to see that grizzly bear ferocity in her dark eyes.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm sorry, maybe it's different over here, but where I grew up if someone says 'no' it's not an invitation to ignore their wishes."

Al found this new side of El both intriguing and rather alluring. He'd seen her bear-like determination before, but never in this protective manner.

"I'm pretty sure it means the same here as well," Al couldn't help the smile that ghosted his lips.

"So what's wrong with your uncles?"

Al's smile came full force and his brain shifted gears. "Not sure, but I'm far more interested in your reaction to this at the moment."

Ellie huffed, "Am I not allowed to be protective of you?"

Al chuckled, "On the contrary, I'm rather fond of it."

He leaned close and kissed her gently.

Ellie smirked against him, "So if I told you I want to yell at your uncles what would that do?"

Al started to kiss along her jaw and down her neck to her favorite spot near her collar bone.

Ellie moaned, "I should be protective of you more often."

Al grinned up at her before kissing her again.

It wasn't until much later that they managed to return to the conversation that had started their distracting activities.

"So what are you going to do about your uncles?" Ellie asked as they cleaned up dinner.

Al sighed, "They made some pretty logical arguments. Ron pointed out that the case in this iteration makes a great base model."

El nodded as she waved the plates back into the cupboard. "So why do you keep coming back with the argument that the case isn't ready?"

It took Al a moment to sort through to the source of his anxiety, and Ellie waited patiently as he tried to find the root of his resistance. But once he found it, he rather wished he hadn't.

"That was a grimace if I ever saw one." Ellie wrapped her arms around his waist. "Talk to me."

Al sighed, "It's fear. I'm afraid of what happens if I don't ever figure this out. What happens if the case will never be more than it is if I'm not the one who figures this out if it never evolves to where I hope? What then, El? Do I spend my life with Goerge and Ron pestering me for something I was stupid enough to think I could do but in the end can't? Do I waste their money and Dad's and my life chasing the next iteration only because the business says we need version 2.0?"

Al shoved a hand in his hair.

"This quest, this ambition to unite magic and Muggle technology is as much a part of me as my wand hand, El. How do I live if I hate my wand hand? How do I function if I create a scenario where I'd rather cut it off?"

El rested her head against his chest and silently held on to him for a few moments.

"I worry about that with my art." She finally spoke.

"Really?"

She nodded against him.

"I've been painting for more than half of my life. What happens if I take a job that makes me hate it? How do I function if suddenly tomorrow one of the core parts of who I am is gone?"

"So how do you handle the fear?"

"For the most part, I push it away. I try and stay positive and remember that I always have final say over what I do with my art. But…" she trailed off.

"But?" Al tilted her chin up to look at him.

"But it doesn't always work," she sighed. "Sometimes the fear is paralyzing."

Al leant down and brought a gentle kiss to her lips. The thought of anything paralyzing El threatened to make this blood boil. She was everything that was good and amazing in his life and he hated that anything could dampen her spirit.

Ellie pushed up, deepening the kiss and moving her arms from his waist to his neck. Al spun them around, picking El up and setting her on the counter, pulling a giggle out of her as they kissed.

"You're amazing, you know?" He murmured against her.

"I always enjoy hearing it," El tangled her fingers in his hair.

And Al had a bit of an epiphany in that moment; as his body worked from muscle memory, Al's mind seemed to have the chance to realize that if the Potterbox sold well, he could support a wife on the income, a wife who could paint whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted. If it never became more, if this was where the buck stopped, if magic and technology never came closer than this, it would be worth it if it let El keep painting.

"I'm going to let them sell the case," Al pulled back to smile at her.

Ellie blinked up at him, "What changed?"

Al rested his forehead against hers, "My priorities came into better focus just now. It's helping remove that fear."

Ellie chuckled, "So the secret to crushing fear is priorities?"

Al kissed her and laughed, "In my case right now, yes."

"And what are your priorities, Mr. Potter?" El placed breathy kisses along his jaw and Al nearly lost the ability to speak.

"You," was all he managed to say before giving in to the part of him that wanted to simply feel and not think; to lose himself in Ellie in that way that made his mind quiet; to the part of him that knew she would always be it; to the little part of himself that admitted he would never ever be able to let go.


	27. Chapter 27

**A/N: I'm probably not going to post this next week. My husband surprised me with a little Valentine's getaway. :) So if I manage to get everything written by Thursday morning, I'll post then, but if not, then I'll be back on Friday, February 21st. **

"It's not going to work, Al." George shook his head as he leant over the conference room table in Weasley's Wizard Wheezes offices. "That's far too detailed a process. I'd need to train people to do everything, nothing in your process allows me to flick my wand and walk away."

Al bit back his initial retort that this had been George's boiled brained idea in the first place.

"You do realize that it's blocking magic, right? It's done by hand to ensure magic doesn't leave traces where it can ruin the phone."

Ron wore a frown as he stared at the list of steps Al had written down.

"What's his name?" He muttered. But before Al could clarify, George spoke.

"I get that, Al, but we have a standard for the wages we offer. For how long it takes you to make the one case and what we pay our employees, I'm losing money making them this way. Explain again why I can't just make duplicates of your case."

"What was his name?" Ron muttered again.

Al didn't give it heed this time.

"It's just like I told you, duplicating it messes with the spell layering and makes the case and screen protector obsolete." Al shoved his hand in his hair. "I've made this as condensed as I can. If we change my process at all it will leave traces and ruin the phone. I've got more failed attempts in my flat than I ever want to count trying to do this differently. This is it, George, this is how it has to be done. If I have a breakthrough later I'll let you know, but if you want these on the shelves for Christmas, then this is how it's going to be."

George huffed and threw himself into the back of his chair.

Al tried not to glare at him.

"What is his name?!" Ron said again, this time with a bit more force.

"Who's name?" George snapped at him.

"The American car man!"

Al laughed, "You do realize you've just described a quarter of their population, right?"

Ron rolled his eyes, "No, I mean the first one."

Al blinked, "The first one?"

"Yeah," Ron nodded, "the one who made cars a thing."

"What do cars have to do with anything?" George groaned. "We're talking about our new Christmas line being short a product."

"Wait," Al felt realization dawning as he followed Ron's train of thought. "Are you talking about Henry Ford?"

"That's it!" Ron slammed his hand on the table. "I remember now! I was reminiscing with Harry and Hermione about the old Ford Angelina a few years ago and Hermione told me that the man who started Ford was the first to use a line to make cars and that cut time and cost and made cars available to most everyone."

"An assembly line!" Al grinned. "Ron that's brilliant!"

"What's an assembly line?" George sat forward again.

"Muggles use it for everything," Al conjured a piece of paper and pulled out his pen. "You have stations, run by people or robots…"

"What's a robot?" George frowned.

"Nevermind," Al chuckled, this was novel enough to explain without throwing robotics into the mix.

"In an assembly line you have stations run by people and they only do one or two, possibly three things, before passing it off to the next person, who does the next one or two things. It cuts production time because rather than one person or team having to keep checking their list to make sure they've done all hundred-odd steps, each person only needs to remember to do one or two things before passing it off. It cuts down on mistakes that way too. And it would work really well here!"

Al pushed the paper he'd been writing on towards his uncles. "See, the first person simply makes duplicates of our different case models. The next person casts these first two spells. Then the next person does just this one. And we go down the line just like that."

"I like it, George," Ron pulled Al's papers closer to him. "And I bet we could do this with other things we decided weren't cost-effective before. We could be the first Wizarding company with Muggle style assembly lines."

"I'd want to run a trial," George tapped his fingers on the table. "Let's send out a memo that we're offering some overtime to try out a new process, have them write down their input and ideas at the end, give them food after, you know the drill."

"I'd like to be there to help them know what they're doing, explain things better."

"Right," Ron pulled out a pen and started writing on the paper Al had used to map out his assembly line. "I'll text you once I have a firm date."

George handed him a piece of parchment, "Write down the days you know are not an option for you. We'll plan around your schedule."

Al jotted down the few days he knew he couldn't make anything happen and then wrote his course schedule out too.

"You spend this much time in school?!" George frowned at the course schedule.

Al smiled, "This is a light semester. I've had a semester with 26 credit hours before. I had to get all sorts of forms signed to make that happen, but it was worth it to get the professor I wanted for the class I needed."

George shook his head. "Hermione has let her crazy rub off on you."

"Eh!" Ron threw his pen at his brother. "That's my wife you're talking about!"

"And I love her dearly, Ron," George chuckled, "but did you see how many hours a day Al is in classes? It's amazing he hasn't morphed into a textbook!"

They laughed and Al caught a glimpse of the wall clock. Ellie was done with her last class.

"If you'll excuse me, I need to get going." Al slipped his pen back into his pocket.

"Hot date?" George teased.

"Something like that," Al grinned, feeling bolder than he ever had as a teenager about his relationships.

Ron winked at him. "I'll show you out."

George saluted his nephew as Al walked out with Ron and towards the fireplaces.

"Your aunt would very much like to meet Ellie," Ron spoke quietly.

Al rolled his eyes. "Mum told you about El too, eh?"

Ron grinned, "She's trying to push you to share your life with all of us a bit more. When you went Muggle, you fell off the planet for some of the family. We're all thrilled with what you're doing, but we do miss having you about. Just think of it this way, Hermione is a safe card. You're bringing your girlfriend who grew up in both worlds to meet your aunt who, to a lesser extent, also grew up in both worlds."

Al sighed; stupid logic and Ron's ability to wield it.

"Send me a text of when you want us over. We'll be there."

Ron put a hand on Al's shoulder and smiled encouragingly. "How about we do it after the testing of your assembly line?"

"Alright," Al nodded, "I'll talk to El, but that should be alright."

Al was surprised to find that his anxiety about El meeting Ron and Hermione wasn't nearly as high as he would have anticipated. But maybe that was because he hadn't told her yet. Ever the scientist, Al decided to test his theory and called Ellie as he sat down on his sofa.

"Hey, love, how did it go?"

Al sighed into the soothing sound of her voice.

"I think it went alright, we're going to give it a try in an assembly line format and see how it fares."

"That sounds brilliant!"

"Yeah, and after, Uncle Ron wants us to come to dinner with him and Aunt Hermione."

It was quiet for a beat and Al managed to find all his anxiety again.

"Al? Are you there?"

"I'm here." He swallowed.

"I said that sounds wonderful! Do you have a date yet?"

Al felt relief rush into him as he let out a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding. Maybe next he'd figure out how to fix cellular service so it never skipped or dropped signal.

"Not yet, but I'll let you know when I do."

"Are you busy?" Ellie's voice had a sing-song quality to it that reminded him a bit of Aunt Luna.

"No."

Then his door opened and Ellie walked in as she disconnected their call.

"Me either."

She laughed as Al took three large steps to wrap her in his arms and kiss her soundly.


	28. Chapter 28

**A/N: Hooray for Friday updates! I'll be back on February 29th with chapter 29. (Because I'm sort of geeking out over posting on leap year, and how the numbers work out with this story, but I'm weird that way...)**

"Are you ready?" Ellie raised an eyebrow at him.

"Yes?" Al nodded.

"Then perhaps we should stop standing on the pavement and go knock on the door?"

"Right," Al nodded again.

Originally, Al had not been all that nervous to bring El to meet the Ron Weasley clan. But that was before Rose had called him that morning to let him know she had a new boyfriend who would be joining them, and who that boyfriend was.

They'd known Scorpius alright while in school. They didn't necessarily run in the same circles, but Al thought him a good bloke from the moment Scorpius stood up to some older kids picking on a group of first years, being only a first-year himself. So it isn't like Al disapproves of Rose and Scorpius dating, he's just not sure what to expect. He hasn't seen the man in years, he has no good point of reference.

To put it simply, Scorpius is an unknown entity in Al's perfectly measured procedure, and now, who knows what the results will be?

"Come on," Ellie rolled her eyes and pulled him forward. "I'm sure your cousin's boyfriend is a lovely man."

Al followed, part of his brain agreeing with her, the other part panicking in protest.

"Right."

Hermione opened the door as they triggered the wards and waved them inside.

"Come in, come in, it's getting cold out."

"Isn't it lovely," Ellie slipped her jacket from her arms.

Hermione chuckled, "I suppose it can be."

"Aunt Hermione, this is Ellie," Al took El's jacket, "Ellie this is my Aunt Hermione."

"I'm so glad to finally meet you!" Hermione waved their jackets out of Al's hands and into the cupboard.

"Al!"

Al turned just in time to catch Rose mid-air as she flung herself at him.

"Hey, Rosie," Al set her down and turned to Ellie.

"Ellie, this is my cousin Rose, Rose this is my girlfriend, Ellie."

Rose threw herself at El, who laughed as she wrapped her arms around Rose's middle.

"Rosie," Hermione chided, "Let the poor woman breathe."

"It's fine, really," Ellie grinned as Rose pulled back. "I love hugs!"

"Well then you'll love, Rose," Hugo stuck his head out into the entryway and rolled his eyes. "Rose will hug anyone."

"That's Hugo," Rose stuck her tongue out at her brother. "The baby of the family."

"Rose, stop it," Hermione chided as she gave the three of them a nudge towards the sitting room. "You're adults now, so act like it."

"Adults with Weasley siblings for our examples," Hugo grinned before ducking behind his book to avoid Hermione's death glare.

"He's got a point, love," Ron chuckled and came in from the kitchen. "Ginny, my brothers, and I still end up bickering like children from time to time."

He held out his hand to El. "It's nice to finally meet you, Ellie. I'm Ron, Al's uncle."

"Thank you all for having me," Ellie shook his hand and Al scanned trying to figure out where Scorpius was hiding.

"He's not here yet," Rose eyed him.

Al tried to look calm, "Oh?"

"I've known you since we were born, Al." Rose rolled her eyes. "I know what you're doing."

"I'm just reminiscing about how this place hasn't changed much." Al avoided his cousin's gaze.

"How about we turn on the wireless and have a drink while we wait for Scorpius to make it." Ron waved his wand at the radio and quiet music filled the air. "I've got some hot wassail on the stove as well if you're of a mind."

"Really?" Ellie's smile beamed. "My aunt only makes it at Christmas time. I love wassail!"

Ron grinned. "I've always said it makes no sense to save the best things for once a year. Follow me, Ellie, and we'll fill you a mug."

Ellie gave an excited squeak and Al chuckled as he kissed her cheek before pushing her towards Ron and the kitchen.

"Why didn't you say that you disapproved of Scorpius?" Rose pulled on his arm once Ellie had disappeared into the kitchen.

"Because I don't," Al blinked at her.

"Then why are you freaking out?"

"Rose, Al is fine," Hermione cut in.

"No," Hugo called from his book, "Al's definitely freaking out. He's doing that thing where he looks at everything then stops and zones out with that panicked look in his eyes and then repeats it over and over."

"See!" Rose pointed at Hugo. "He knows too!"

"Rose," Hermione's voice was firmer, but Al was peeved now and let Rose have it.

"No, they're right. And I'm panicked because you took a safe, predictable scenario and then last minute threw in a wild card!"

"Scorpius isn't a wild card!" Rose shot back.

"He is for Al," Hugo turned the page of his book.

"You knew him in school!" Rose protested.

"I knew _of_ him and we left Hogwarts years ago! So excuse me for being nervous that I brought the girlfriend that I kept from the family for over a year to meet you on the same day that you spring someone I can't calculate on me."

"I told you," Hugo looked up from his book, "I told you to wait for next time."

"Al, if you're feeling uncomfortable, we can reschedule this." Hermione put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "It's always hard to have things sprung on you, especially when you're already nervous."

Al shoved his hand in his hair. "No, I want to be here. I want you all to get to know Ellie." He turned to Rose. "And I am happy for you, Rosie. Just, let me work through this alright. I'm learning not to try and treat life like an experiment with controllable variables, but it's taking time." He smiled, "And most all of El's patience."

It was Rose's turn to look panicked as she threw herself at him. "I'm sorry! I've been so nervous because Scorp and I have gotten so much crap because he's a Malfoy and I'm a Weasley and I just wanted you to be excited for me because so many people were wary at first and I just needed someone to love it and I wanted it to be you but I didn't think about how I'd changed plans on you last minute! And..."

"Breathe, Rose," Hugo put his book down and smiled at Al. "You going to be alright, mate?"

Al nodded as he disentangled himself from Rosie. "Yeah, I might still do some of my tics, but I'm not leaving." He smiled down at Rose, "I am happy for you. And I know someone who was happy for you the moment they found out you we dating and loves that you and Scorpius are together."

"You do?" Rose furrowed her brow.

"Ellie."

"Yes?" Ellie walked in, steaming cup of wassail clasped in her hands and a happy smile gracing her lips.

Al reached for her, "I was just telling Rose how you were excited to find out she has a new boyfriend."

"Oh!" Ellie nodded. "I love hearing about how people met and got together. My grandmother tells me stories all the time of how half of St. John's relationships started."

Al smirked, wondering how many of those stories were actually told to Naomi _verbally_.

"That sounds a right side better than the stories my grandmother told me." Scorpius walked into the room and Rose's whole face lit up like a bright white LED lightbulb as she ran to him.

"Scorp, you remember Al," Rosie wrapped her arms around Scorpius' middle.

"Of course, it's good to see you again. Rose tells me you're blurring the lines between the Wizarding World and the Muggles."

Al nodded and shook Scorpius' proffered hand. "We had a successful test run for the production of one of my product ideas this morning. But I've got a lot of help from Ellie, here. Ellie, this is Scorpius Malfoy, one of our old classmates. Scorpius, this is my girlfriend, Ellie Battiste."

"Nice to meet you," Ellie shifted her mug to shake his hand.

"Is that wassail?" Scorpius' eyes went wide.

"Dad made some," Rose nodded. "He doesn't see the point of only having it in December."

"I knew I liked your dad," Scorpius nodded to the room, "I'll be back in a moment."

The rest of the evening went much smoother than Al had originally anticipated. Everyone loved Ellie, and Ellie's lack of any history on the matter helped Al to see Scorpius through fresh eyes. He hadn't held any hard feelings for Scorpius, but Al realized that he had held a lot of pity for him. Having El there helped Al to see Scorpius without that pity, and that made it easier to get to know him.

As the evening drew to a close, Al went into the kitchen with Scorpius for one more mug of wassail.

"I'm really glad you were able to come tonight," Scorpius leant against the counter. "It's been really important to Rose."

"I'm glad I came. It was good to actually get to know you." Al filled his mug before setting it down to grab El's.

"Are you alright with Rose and me then?"

Al chuckled, "She'd kill me for trying to give that sort of permission."

Scorpius gripped the counter behind him. "Look Al, everyone at Hogwarts knew how you and your brothers handled the guys that broke Lily's heart. Honestly, I'm surprised anyone was willing to date her at all. But what I'm going for here is that you're not upset it's me Rose is choosing."

Al studied Scorpius for a moment. "As long as you're choosing each other, Scorp, I couldn't be happier."

Relief seemed to wash over Scorpius as his whole body relaxed and he smiled.

"Thanks, Al."

"Anytime, but can you be straight with me on one thing?" Al filled Ellie's mug and picked up his.

"Sure?"

"How long have you and Rosie actually been together?"

"Not long…" Scorpius looked down at his mug.

"This is definitely not a brand new relationship, Scorp."

Scorpius sighed, "What gave it away?"

Al chuckled, "You didn't knock when you came in today."

Crimson colored Scorpius' cheeks, "Yeah, Ron told me to stop knocking about three months ago."

"And…"

"And he told me to stop calling him Mr. Weasley and call him Ron for Merlin's sake about four months ago."

"And…"

Scorpius finally looked up, "And I got the courage to ask Rose out six months, two weeks, and five days ago."

Al tapped his mug against Scorpius'. "Cheers, mate. I'm happy for the both of you."

Scorpius grinned and pushed off the counter. "Thanks, Al."


	29. Chapter 29

**A/N: Posting Chapter 29 on February 29th, I wish I could say I planned this, but that would be a lie. So I'll just enjoy the serendipity. See you on March 6th. :)**

The phone cases and screen protectors were selling better than Al had ever thought they would, especially at the Hogsmeade location. Muggle-born students still couldn't use their phones as communication devices, but at least they could have their phones with them. And the tablet cases and screen protectors made it so students could take notes on their tablets rather than on paper. Al was happy to hear rumors that some kids were hosting movie nights in their common rooms to watch movies they had downloaded to their devices while at home. It was emboldening to hear the stories about how the Potterbox was changing the way wizards and witches coexisted in both worlds.

He also liked that the Potterbox came with the screen protector. That was something that had always bugged him. He'd buy a phone and then have to find a case and then have to go buy the screen protector too. Hence Al had been pretty insistent with George and Ron that the case and screen protector had to come together. Thankfully, they didn't know enough to argue with him and went along with it.

The line was selling beautifully, and if Al could get the next step figured out, making the phone actually work with magic around, that iteration would sell for more, and probably better than this first one was. It looked like he'd have a nice sustaining income flow if the trend held.

Al's mind still spun a bit thinking about the whole thing when December blew in and Grandma Wesley's Christmas party rolled around.

He and El had decided to have her forgo this one in order to let her be with just his family for part of their Christmas celebration. Christmas morning with his family, dinner with Susan and Charlie, and the weekend prior to Christmas in St. John's. It was enough of a whirlwind on its own without adding the entirety of his extended family in the mix.

But Al had one other motive, aside from trying to not overwhelm their schedules. He wanted a chance to talk to Aunt Fleur, without the chance of Ellie overhearing.

Al knew he needed to talk with her once he'd calmed down enough to think straight. Because he was considering doing exactly what Aunt Fleur had done so many years prior.

"Ah, you have finally caught me alone." Aunt Fleur smiled at him as he strode into the kitchen at the Burrow.

"Am I that obvious?" Al shoved his hand in his hair.

Aunt Fleur smiled at him, "You've been watching me all evening. If Bill had noticed he might have pulled you aside."

"I'm sorry, I'm not trying to be weird, I just, I need some advice."

Fleur leant against the counter, "What sort of advice?"

"Well, er, how," Al took a deep breath and started again. "How did you know you wanted to stay in England, rather than go home to France? I'm sure Uncle Bill would have gone with you."

Fleur's smile went nostalgic, softer somehow.

"Some people, they're a part of the land they live on. You can move them, but they'll always be there, in that land that their soul lives in. But others, like me," Fleur watched him for a moment before continuing, "and I think you as well, we bring our home with us. I'm as French today as I was the day I was born. You could throw me in the middle of the jungle and I'd still be as French as they come. We don't need the land beneath our feet to ground us that way."

"But don't you miss France, and being close to your family?" Al pressed against the far side of the counter.

"Yes, but we're blessed to have the means to travel back frequently. I see my family at least every other month. And I get my fix of people who speak a sophisticated language and food that's prepared properly, then I come home. Because home is where Bill is. I will always be French. But my home will always be him, it will always be where he is."

Her final words hit Al like a blast of hot air after coming in from the frozen air.

Home was where El was. It had been that way for a while now. If Al thought her aunt and uncle wouldn't have a stroke over it he'd ask El to move in with him. He turned to her constantly. He craved their time together. He lived to see her smiling face and hear her laugh.

Ellie was home.

"Leaving your country is an adjustment, Al." Fleur pulled his attention back to her. "But if you're committed to your home being a person, and not a piece of land, then it's not as difficult as it may seem."

Al smiled, "Thanks Aunt Fleur, this has been really helpful."

"Good, now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go get a turn with my grandson."

Al nodded and watched his aunt glide back out to the sitting room where she commandeered Johnny from Grandpa Weasley. He smiled before moving out to the back porch and looking up at the December sky. The stars were bright above Devon and Al smiled. Aunt Fleur was right. This would always be part of him, growing up in England; it had become a piece of him, a piece that would ring true no matter where he lived. And if the first three months of sales were any indication, they'd have the money to come back and visit whenever they wanted to. His children would still know England. He wouldn't be leaving it behind for good. It would still be a part of him, no matter where he was.

"You alright?" Lily's voice sounded behind him.

"Yeah, I was just thinking."

"It's easier to do that without the crowd, huh?" Lily came to stand next to him. "Good thoughts?"

Al smiled, "Yeah, really good ones."

"Care to share?" She bumped his shoulder.

Al chuckled, "What would your thoughts be on having one more sister?"

"Seriously!" Lily squealed.

"I haven't asked, yet," Al laughed as Lily threw her arms around him.

"She's going to say yes, Al. Anyone can see she adores you. Are you going to ask over Christmas?"

"It's not out of the question." Al pushed a hand into his hair feeling the butterflies swarm his stomach before attacking his chest.

"You should!" Lily squeezed her arms around him. "It's brilliant, Al, you and Ellie. Seeing you two together gives me hope."

"You'll find someone, Lils." Al chuckled, "You're not even nineteen yet."

Lily rolled her eyes at him, "What I'm getting at is that you and Ellie haven't known each other since you were born. I guess you two are helping me see that just because things didn't work out with Lorcan doesn't mean I've missed out on my own chance at happiness."

"You'll find someone, Lils." Al kissed the top of her head. "Some bloke is going to realize how amazing you are and never let go. And if he ever steps out of line, Ted, Jamie, and I will break his neck."

Lily laughed and swatted his arm. "I'm still surprised anyone was willing to even try and date me. You three were a force."

"Honestly," Al laughed, "I'm pretty surprised too."

"Well, then you definitely owe me a sister!" Lily gave him a shove.

"I'll get right on it." Al shoved her back. "Come on, before the whole family comes looking for us."

Lily shivered, "Don't say it out loud, they've got a sixth sense. It's like summoning them."

Al opened the door. "Come on, I want more of Grandma's ginger biscuits."


	30. Chapter 30

**A/N: Next chapter goes up on March 13th and then we should go back to Saturday updates again. :)**

It hadn't been a hard decision once Al really thought it through. He'd taken advantage of Ellie needing to work one of her shifts and had braved the Christmas crowds for some jewelry shop hopping. It had taken the better part of six hours, but Al finally had a ring that felt like Ellie, and a significantly lighter bank account.

But currently, he had a Portkey to catch.

"Do you have everything?" Ellie called out from his front room.

Al slipped the ring box in his pocket. He didn't trust it anywhere else for this journey.

"If I'm missing anything I'll buy it while we're there." Al chuckled and threw his duffle bag over his shoulder as he walked out of his room. "Or live without it for a night."

Ellie laughed and moved to kiss him. "I love you, you know?"

"I certainly hope so," Al teased.

Ellie shoved his chest and tried to pull away but Al kept her close.

"I love you too."

"That's more of the response I was hoping for."

"Let's get you home." Al kissed her again.

The rest of their day went quickly, and Al was finding himself hard-pressed to find a quick moment to talk to John. He was about ready to throw surprise to the wind and just ask him at dinner when Naomi grabbed his elbow and pulled him into the hallway near the stairs.

"He'll say yes." She chuckled before Al could protest. "But my son is not known for keeping secrets."

Al blinked, maybe one day Naomi's gift wouldn't leave him feeling shell shocked. More importantly, what was he going to do now? If John couldn't keep a secret he'd have to ask him and then pop El away right after, which he wasn't positive he could realistically pull off...

"I give you permission to marry our Ellie, Albus. Do you feel better?"

Al's mind suddenly stopped and he laughed, "Actually, yes. That seems more appropriate somehow."

Naomi patted his cheek, "The old ways usually are. The lake is a good idea, you'll want to do it at sunset."

Al felt the nerves resurface.

"She's going to say yes," Naomi grinned.

"I like to think so," Al felt his face grow hot, "but I still want this to be special for her. She deserves that."

"I have full confidence in you, Unjann."

She slipped back to the kitchen, leaving Al to stare after her.

Apparently he needed to ask El tonight because they wouldn't be around for sunset tomorrow. That wasn't out of the question, but it definitely hadn't been his original plan...

Thankfully, Naomi seemed intent on making it happen. Dinner magically was ready almost two hours earlier than planned. Naomi blamed it on old age and her memory slipping. Then she insisted that John and Lisa help her take around the few gifts she hadn't managed to deliver to her friends since it was still early. When Lisa suggested Al and Ellie come along, Naomi tutted that they'd already had a long day and to let the young couple rest a bit.

If Al hadn't been scared out of his mind he would have laughed at Naomi's antics.

Before he knew it, Al found himself alone with Ellie as the sun started to set.

"Well, that was strange." Ellie frowned at him.

"Er, I suppose," Al felt his hand going for his hair and shoved it in his pocket instead. The ring box pressed against his fingers and he snatched his hand back out.

"Hey, El," Al swallowed, "Why don't we go back to that little lake you painted? You said last year I needed to see it in winter."

Ellie's face lit up with an excited smile. "That's a great idea! You'll love it, especially with what the sunset does to the snow and the water and the areas that ice over. Come on." She grabbed his hand and practically skipped out the front door, grabbing their coats as they went.

As his feet hit the ground, Al took in what was probably the most peaceful scene he'd ever been in. It was quiet, quieter than he was used to the woods being in summer and fall and spring. And aside from his and El's footprints, the snow was mostly untouched. The ice and snow along the bank of the lake caught the setting sun's light to paint rainbows on their surface. And the frigid water sparkled as the light flitted through the tree branches.

Al didn't dare breathe at first, worried he would break the image surrounding him.

"It's perfect, isn't it?" El squeezed his hand.

Al grinned at her as his nerves tried to kick back into full swing.

"Your home is beautiful, Ellie." He pushed the nerves down and stepped closer to her. "Just like you."

Pink tinged Ellie's cheeks but she smiled up at him.

"Why thank you, I find my home rather captivating as well."

"You know, I was thinking," Al pulled her other hand into his. "And I realized that my home is wherever you are. Wherever you are is where I want to be."

Ellie's smile was bright as the setting sun in the distance.

Now or never. Al let go of her hands and slipped the box from his pocket, opening it in front of her.

Ellie's eyes grew to the size of the lake in front of them.

"Eliza, you captivated me from the moment I laid eyes on you. You believed in me when I wanted to give up on everything. You've fought for me when I wasn't worth fighting for. You've been my foundation. And I want to be yours. I want to be who you turn to. I want to be your support. I want to be the one who believes in you. I want to be who you fight with. I want to be the one who annoys you. I want to be the one you trust with everything. I want you to be my home."

He dropped to one knee, soaking his jeans which almost made him laugh.

"Eliza Naomi Battiste, will you make me the happiest man alive and marry me?"

"Of course!" Ellie's eyes shone with tears and she moved to join him in the snow but Al shot up and caught her around the waist.

"Don't get your jeans all soaked as well!"

But then she was kissing him and laughing and clinging to him like he might disappear if she let go, and Al could only laugh through the adrenaline that coursed through his system.

She wanted him, and nothing else mattered.


	31. Chapter 31

**A/N: Next chapter goes up on March 21st but if I get a lot of writing done I could potentially be posting periodically throughout the next couple of weeks. I suddenly find myself with some downtime with my lovely children and wonderful husband. :)**

"We should get back," Al slipped the ring on El's finger. "Your grandmother only bought us so much time."

"Nmi' was in on this?" Ellie smiled down at her hand as the setting sun's rays sparkled against it.

"As of four hours ago," Al kissed her again and Ellie chuckled.

"That sounds like Nmi'. She was acting strange today but I couldn't figure out why."

Al wrapped his arms around El and took one last look at the place that he was certain would be a landmark for the rest of his life.

"Let's go tell your parents. I'm sure they're just as confused about Naomi's behavior as you were."

Ellie laughed and kissed him again before Al turned and brought them back to El's childhood home.

John, Lisa, and Naomi were waiting on the porch, Christmas lights turned on even though the sun hadn't quite disappeared below the horizon.

"I didn't tell them," Naomi answered Al's silent question as Lisa ran forward with a happy cry and wrapped them in a hug. "Lisa figured it out after about thirty seconds in the car."

Al laughed, "Remind me never to try and surprise your family with anything."

"Come inside, come inside," Lisa pulled on their shoulders. "We have to celebrate!"

Al stopped on the porch to shake John's hand. "I'm sorry I didn't ask you. Naomi assured me you'd say yes, but I know that isn't the same."

"Welcome to the family, Al," John brushed off Al's apology and pulled him into a tight hug. "I couldn't have picked a better match for my baby girl."

"You're going to make me cry, Tata't," Ellie hugged John as he released Al and Al smiled at how Ellie's new ring sparkled in the Christmas lights.

"Good," John kissed her head, "because I'm going to cry like a baby when I give you away, Tu's."

"There will be time for tears," Naomi patted John on the shoulder, "but your Giju' is right, Ellie. Tonight, we celebrate!"

Al took Ellie's hand as they walked back inside, feeling like the richest man in the world.

The rest of their short pre-Christmas visit was punctuated with wedding ideas as they mused about dates and venues, colors and flowers, the guest list and ideas as to where they might honeymoon. Nothing was set, but Ellie seemed to enjoy simply dreaming it up with her mum and grandmother. Al promised to connect Lisa and John with his parents as soon as they told them so that real planning could start to take place once they'd settled on a hard date. Al was sure that his mum was going to schedule a Portkey just as soon as she confirmed a day with his future in-laws.

"Are you going to tell Susie when you get back?" Lisa asked as she helped them get her sugar cookies into their duffles.

Ellie looked at Al.

"It would explain why I asked you to be at mine so close to Christmas." Al shrugged. "But they're your family, love, so I'll follow your lead."

Ellie nodded, "I'm just worried they'll ask to meet your family for Christmas dinner. It's one thing for you to pretend to be a Muggle, but I feel awful asking your family to be in on the charade as well, especially on Christmas Day."

"Mum and Dad belong to the Muggle Porsche club and shop and dine in the Muggle world all the time." Al laughed.

"But James and Alice?" El raised her eyebrows at him.

"Jamie knows how, and Allie is pretty bright, she'd be alright," Al pursed his lips, "But Teddy and Vic talk about a lot of close calls when they take Johnny into the Muggle world. His hair changes color at random right now. They could keep a hat on him, but I'm sure that a hat on a baby indoors could cause suspicion as well."

"What do we do for the wedding then?" Naomi looked at Lisa. "Our family is so intermixed we don't even notice. But we will need to have some ideas for keeping Susan and Charles in their box of unbelief."

Then Al had an idea. "We'll get married here, in St. John's. The airline cost is high enough they might not manage it. My family can Portkey. Between Dad and Aunt Hermione's discounts, the cost won't hurt anyone."

Naomi smiled slyly at him. "And why, Al, would you get married here on the Rock?"

Al chuckled at her game, "Because we're going to be living here."

Lisa started crying, John beamed at Al, and Ellie looked at him like he'd hung the moon before kissing him.

Naomi certainly knew how to put him in the good graces of his future wife and in-laws.

Ultimately, they decided to wait to tell Susan and Charlie until Christmas dinner with them. Ellie's only frustration being that she couldn't wear her engagement ring around them till they knew.

Al laughed when they reached his flat and she handed her ring back to him.

"You need to keep this for me until Christmas or I'm going to ruin all our well-laid plans."

"Promise me to take it back as soon as I pick you up?" Al plucked the ring from her palm.

"You won't be able to keep it from me." Ellie wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him with the kind of enthusiasm that made Al's head spin.

"When is Susan expecting you?" Al started walking them back to his bedroom.

"Not for a couple of hours," Ellie grinned against him before nipping at his bottom lip.

Al pulled back to look down at her as he managed to navigate to his bedroom. Her hair fell in waves against her face and shoulders. Her gold specked eyes bore into his with that bear-like intensity making this heart beat faster in his chest. And Al thanked Merlin that Ellie would be his view for the rest of his life.

"This," he slipped her ring back on her finger, "is the only thing I don't want you to take off."


	32. Chapter 32

**A/N: Next chapter goes up on March 28th. :)**

Al slipped El's ring back on her finger as they stepped out of Susan and Charlie's home.

"I honestly felt undressed the last couple of days." Ellie kissed his cheek.

Al chuckled as they moved to the alleyway they used to Apparate. "Now you never have to take it off."

"That might just be my favorite Christmas gift."

Al wrapped her in his arms and kissed her before turning.

"Come on," El pulled on his hand as they landed, "I want to surprise your family!"

Al followed as Ellie nearly ran up the front walk.

"She's here! She's here! She's here!" Lily came sliding into the front entryway on stocking feet, her eyes focused on Ellie's hands.

"Yes!" Lily rushed forward and pulled them both into a hug.

"Lily, Al already brought over your gifts," Jamie called out from the living room.

"Not all of them!" Lily's voice was sing-song as she grinned.

"I'm a present?" Ellie laughed.

"Getting a sister is the best present!"

"Getting a sister?" Ginny stuck her head in the entry and Al shook his head as he laughed.

"Let's get everyone together and say this once. If we keep at this we'll never make it to breakfast, let alone the gifts."

"Say what once?" Harry stepped up behind Ginny.

"Hurry, Dad," Lily rushed past him, "I'm going to explode if I can't scream about this soon."

Everyone gathered around the Christmas tree and Al decided to make it easy by simply grabbing El's hand and holding it up for everyone to see.

"El has agreed to put up with me for the rest of our lives." He grinned at the smack he earned from Ellie.

And then they were attacked with hugs and congratulations and laughter that reminded Al so much of how wonderful his family really was.

"Do you have a date picked out yet?" Ginny summoned her phone to her.

"Not yet," Ellie shook her head. "But we want to get married in St. John's."

"Ooo, a destination wedding!" Lily grinned.

"Well, not really, since we'll be living in St. John's." Ellie smiled up at Al.

Al returned her smile before turning to gauge the reactions of his family.

"Maybe we'll look into a summer home in Canada," Harry grinned at them. "I'm always happy to have a place to escape from work."

"I could start covering some of the matches in North America," Ginny added.

"What they're saying," Vic laughed, "is that you won't escape from this family that easily."

"We aren't escaping," Al chuckled. "We're getting Ellie home."

But his smile faded as Jamie slipped quietly out of the room. He glanced at Alice who looked just as surprised.

"Have you told your family yet?" His mum asked.

"We're telling my aunt and uncle tonight at dinner and we've already told my parents and grandmother. I'm sure my parents have already called my extended family back home and told them." Ellie answered.

Al let Ellie continue answering as he excused himself and went after his brother.

"You sure left in a hurry." Al found Jamie stabbing next to the window in his old room.

"I learned from you," Jamie didn't turn toward him.

Al blinked.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Really?" Jamie shook his head. "You run away to Muggle university and you're never around. Now you're marrying Ellie and running away to Canada of all bloody places. I know I had some moments where I was a shite brother but you could at least stick around for mum's sake."

Al wasn't sure what to say. He had always had a hard time remembering other people had emotions, and he often struggled to fully comprehend them. It was easier with Ellie because she wore her heart on her sleeve, and because he practically lived with the woman.

"I'm not trying to get away from the family."

"Would've fooled me."

"I'll be traveling here a lot with this line I've got going with George and Ron. I'm not swearing off England, I'm just getting my fiance home. Ellie, she needs this Jamie. She needs to be home, she's connected to that island in a way I can't even begin to comprehend let alone explain."

Jamie shoved his hand in his hair. "Allie's expecting. We're announcing it as the last present for Mum and Dad today. And I just," he finally turned to Al. "Are you even going to be around for my kid to get to know you? Or are you going to be just someone they see once every other year for Christmas?"

Al sighed and sat down on Jamie's old bed. "Look, I talked to Aunt Fleur about this, and Vic and Dom and Louis are all close to Gabrielle and their grandparents in France. I mean the lot of them speak French they spend so much time there."

Al shook his head and tried to better state what he was trying to say. "I'm not going to let go of this family. I want you involved in my life, in the lives of the children Ellie and I may have. I'm not running away."

Jamie plopped down next to him on the bed. "I miss you. I miss getting into trouble with you. Remember, the co-presidents of Club Idiot is what you used to call us."

Al laughed, "Merlin, we almost burnt down Grandma and Grandpa Potter's home."

"And we got away with it," Jamie grinned at him.

"Remember when we decided to try and enchant all the tapestries to be gold and scarlet?"

"I still can hear the Fat Lady screaming at us."

Al laughed before placing a hand on his brother's shoulder. "I'm sorry you felt like I was running away. That's not my goal in this at all."

Jamie ran a hand into his hair. "I'm sorry I freaked out. It's been a stressful few weeks and finding out you'd be off in Canada seemed to be the last straw, you know?"

Al nodded, "I'm sure I'll be a wreck when I'm in your shoes, don't feel too bad. Just be patient with me when I show up on your doorstep in a panic after finding out Ellie's pregnant."

Jamie's laughter brought a smile to Al's face. "So we're good?"

"Yeah," James stood and pulled Al into a hug. "Come on, I've got a bet going with Teddy that Mum screams loud enough the neighbors check in on us to make sure she's alright."

"What's the pot?" Al chuckled.

Jamie shrugged, "Bragging rights. Vic and Allie got upset a few months ago when they found out we were betting Galleons on stuff like this. Best marriage advice I can give you is to let the small stuff go as quickly as you can."

"Thanks, I'll remember that." Al followed his brother back downstairs.

He made a mental note to give Jamie every opportunity he could to cash in on those bragging rights when one of the neighbors came knocking shortly after his parents opened Jamie and Allie's announcement. They wanted to make sure Mrs. Potter wasn't hurt. His ears still felt the echoes of her voice.

Late that night, Ellie curled into him on his bed and smiled as she started to drift off. Her smile wasn't that different than the smile that graced Susan's lips when they announced their engagement. It was the first time he'd seen the woman smile and he thought it suited her. Especially when that smile also made it that much easier to have Ellie at his for the night.

It wouldn't be long before things changed. The end of Ellie's degree was just a short of five months away. But Al pushed away all the worry in exchange for holding her close now, loving her now, being with her now, and letting tomorrow look after itself.


	33. Chapter 33

**A/N: Next chapter goes up on Friday, April 3rd. :)**

"We really should set a date, love." Ellie chuckled.

"I know," Al kissed her neck and smiled when her hands found his hair. "But this is much more entertaining."

Ellie giggled, "Yes but this doesn't get our mothers off our backs."

"No one's on your back, love. It's Boxing Day. Everyone else has more important things to do than fuss about our wedding date." Al pushed up on his elbows to smile down at her.

Ellie pushed up from his pillows to kiss him. "Maybe I'm just excited to have a date set."

Al followed her lips as she lay back down.

"Afraid I'll run away?" He teased as his hands wandered.

"I just want to know exactly how long after you graduate I have to wait for you to be on the same continent as me."

Al slowed his pace and sighed.

"I'll be honest, part of me forgot that we'd be in different countries for part of this engagement."

Ellie pulled him down to the bed with her and curled into him. "I'm fine with long-distance, I just want a timeline of when it's going to end, you know?"

Al pulled her close. "Well, you graduate in May."

"And you're done that following December."

"Do you want a winter wedding?" Al asked. "I know some women are picky about what season it is. Like Allie wanted an autumn wedding last year."

Ellie chuckled, "If I were getting married here I'd be picky about the season too."

"Not all of us are blessed to grow up someplace that looks like Utopia," Al poked her side, grinning when she pressed closer against him.

"Excuses, excuses," she kissed his chest. "I guess my only thing about winter weddings is that I don't want it near Christmas or Valentine's Day."

"Define, near."

"Within four weeks."

Al felt his brain slipping into his logical side, which was oddly comforting.

"Ok, not January then, or February, or the beginning of March."

"If we wait till early April there are some gorgeous colors."

"Are you alright with Easter falling on our anniversary every now and again?"

"Oh, I forgot about that." Ellie huffed.

"So, May?"

"That's a full year after I graduate. That's nearly an eighteen-month engagement."

Al sighed, "Does Newfoundland have a university?"

Ellie balked. "Not one you can transfer to, love. Why do you think a lot of us go to school somewhere else?"

Al felt like he'd just found himself stuck in an infinite loop. "It's worth looking at though, isn't it?"

Ellie sighed, "You're probably right."

She pushed off the comforter and pulled his shirt over her head. "Come on, we might as well have breakfast while we figure this out."

Al grabbed his joggers and followed her out into his kitchen. He turned on his laptop while Ellie flipped on the kettle.

He groaned as his internet search seemed to prove Ellie's point.

"Unless I change my majors and minor, transferring doesn't make sense."

"And there's no way for you to finish this summer?" Ellie set his mug down in front of him.

"I don't think so, but I'll double-check."

Al went over all the courses he had lined up and what he lacked for both majors while Ellie threw breakfast together.

"No luck," Al sighed. "Both my capstone classes aren't offered in the summer. I have to take them in the fall."

Ellie set his toast down next to him and plopped down at the table.

"Well, then I guess that leaves us back at square one."

Al pushed his hand into his hair. "I'm sorry. I should have tried to figure out the timing with you beforehand."

"Don't be silly," Ellie murmured through her bite of toast. "We'll figure it out."

Al shut his laptop to focus on his breakfast. El looked much less happy than she had when they had lazily woken up that morning, and it bothered him. Weren't engaged couples supposed to be ridiculously happy?

El finished her food and sat staring off into space for several long moments when the far left corner of her mouth ticked upwards just a bit.

"I suppose we could have a destination wedding after all."

"What?" Al furrowed his brow. Did she not want to get married in Newfoundland?

"The answer's pretty obvious. May would be the easiest with me not wanting to have our anniversary near holidays and you having to start classes up in June."

"Wait," Al felt like his brain had just skipped a gear. "El I can't Portkey back and forth daily for classes."

"I know," Ellie reached for his hand. "But if we lived here," she gestured around them, "you wouldn't need to."

Al stopped breathing. "Ellie, I can't ask you, you've been so excited to go home, and that would make it so much longer…"

"Al," she squeezed his hand, "I don't want a long engagement. And a few more months here in England won't kill me. We'll plan the wedding, spend our break getting married and have a short honeymoon, and then we'll move back in here until you've finished school. We'll just say my Christmas present next year is moving home."

Al held her gaze, "You're absolutely sure of this? Because we can figure something out if you're not."

"Let me grow too, Al." Ellie chuckled. "Nmi' says it's important to not set too much of our lives in stone. It's when we bend and stretch ourselves that we grow. A life well-lived is a life spent outside one's comfort zone, love. Yes, I want to go back home. But I don't want to be there without you. You're more important than all that."

Al leant over and brought his lips to hers. This woman! This brilliant woman who was too good for this world and somehow she'd fallen in love with him. And as he tried to pour these feelings into his kiss, Ellie responded by deepening the kiss and tangling her hand in his hair.

"We should tell our mothers we have a date," she murmured as he began kissing down her neck to that spot near her collar bone.

"We'll get there," Al chuckled as she responded to his touch. "But first I'm going to show you exactly what that little speech of yours did to me."

Then he picked her up and carried her back to what would soon be _their_ bedroom as she laughed.


	34. Chapter 34

**A/N: I'm taking next week off for Holy Week and Easter, but I'll be back with two chapters on April 18th.**

Al was actually taken aback by the response.

Craig and many of his mates were incredibly disappointed that he was getting married so far away. They'd had ideas of a grand stag do and of so many other things that Al was partly relieved he wouldn't be subjected too. But their chapfallen faces left him feeling just a bit guilty.

Al pushed open the door to his flat and smiled when he found El typing away on her laptop.

"Hey love," she smiled up at him. "How was class?"

"Weird," Al set his bag down before kissing her.

"How so?"

"My mates, specifically Craig, are pretty put out with me about the wedding being away from here. Which I don't get, it's not their wedding, but whatever."

Ellie chuckled as Al moved to the fridge. "They love you and they're sad they'll be missing this part of your life. Probably a lot like my friends."

Al let her words run through his head a couple of times.

"So our Muggle England friends feel left out?"

"Exactly." Ellie sighed. "Aunt Susan actually cried when she told me they couldn't make it out to St. John's for the wedding."

Al groaned. "I swear, every time I feel like I've got a handle on this I get knocked back."

"A handle on what?"

"On knowing what to expect from people," Al plopped down next to Ellie on the small sofa.

Ellie laughed, "I don't think anyone actually figures that out, love. People do follow patterns sometimes, but they often throw those patterns away for new ones. Look at you."

"You just threw me in my own face." Al chuckled and kissed her.

"But do we do something?" Al asked after a moment. "Both my mates and yours are put out. Your aunt cried. I thought people were supposed to be happy when they found out you were getting married."

Ellie sighed, "I think we both weren't doing as well as we thought we were at living in both worlds. We actually have two lives. We have our Muggle lives with our Muggle friends and my aunt and uncle. Then we have our Wizarding lives with each other and our families."

"It's not our fault, the Statute of Secrecy keeps us from letting Muggles know what we are. I mean, you couldn't Apparate in Muggle areas until 10 years ago if you weren't an Auror. We're doing the best we can."

Ellie pushed her laptop to the coffee table and curled into him.

"You're right. But I think maybe we need to think about how we really have two lives that we need to include somehow."

"A party? It would cut our honeymoon shorter but we could do something small. This flat isn't huge but it could work."

Ellie grinned. "Al you're a genius!"

"I've never actually been tested for that one," Al laughed.

Ellie shook her head and laughed with him. "A party would be exactly the thing, though! And I'm sure Aunt Susan and Uncle Charlie would let us use their diner. We'd have our wedding in St. John's and then have our honeymoon and then have a party here for everyone in our Muggle lives and then no one feels like they're cut out."

"Those two weeks before summer courses start are going to be a whirlwind." Al chuckled, "But I think it's a great idea."

El wrapped her arms around Al's neck and kissed him. "Is that alright? Are you going to be alright?"

"I'll be fine," Al nuzzled her neck.

"So I should go talk to Aunt Susan, then?"

"What's the rush?" Al pulled back a bit confused.

Ellie laughed. "Darling, we only have four and a half months to put this together. If we're going to do it, we need to get the ball rolling."

Al chuckled, "See all I heard was I have four and a half months before your mine for good."

Ellie rolled her eyes. "Your selective hearing is going to get us in trouble."

Al kissed her. "Go do the wedding things and let me know what I can do to help, alright?"

Ellie kissed him again before standing and grabbing her bag. "I'll see you tomorrow at the diner?"

"Wouldn't miss it," Al stood with her but grabbed her hand when a thought occurred to him.

"Hey, before you go, I want you to think about if working for your aunt and uncle is something you want to keep doing. Because the line is bringing in enough money that you don't have to do that if you don't want to."

Ellie paused a moment before her smile hit him full force. "You mean, I could paint? All day?"

Al chuckled and pulled her into him again. "That has been my goal these last few months."

And then there were tears in her eyes and she threw herself at him, kissing him with a force that had Al leading them back down to the sofa they'd just vacated.

"Thank you!" She murmured against his lips. "Thank you so much!"

Al wiped one of her happy tears from her cheek. "I love you."

"I love you too," she kissed him again, her hands sliding under his shirt.

"What happened to you needing to get to wedding stuff?" He teased as his hands followed her lead.

"That was before I knew I would also be giving Aunt Susan and Uncle Charlie my notice." She kissed along his jaw and Al gripped her waist.

"Ah, getting yourself prepared for the fallout then." Al pulled her down over him as he lay back.

"Nope," El smiled against him, "I'm celebrating."

Al was happy to oblige her celebration for sometime before Ellie finally did manage to make it back to her aunt and uncle's home.

He grinned when she called later that evening. "We're all set for the party. Uncle Charlie's even going to cater it for us."

"That's great, love." Al leaned back against the sofa. "What are you up to?"

"I'm getting ready for bed. Some of us have to be awake before the sun, you know."

"Four more months and you can sleep as late as you want to."

"You're making me want to throw it all away and elope with you."

"Your dad would kill me."

"He would," Ellie laughed. "And mum would make Nmi' bring you back to life so she could kill you next."

"You know, before I met your grandma I would have thought you were joking, but if anyone can bring the dead back it's Naomi." Al looked down at the textbook in his lap and sighed.

"You're studying, aren't you?"

"How could you tell?"

"You gave that, 'I don't want to be studying, I want to be kissing' sigh."

Al laughed, "Is that what it was? And here I thought it was just me feeling drained."

"Nope, you always kiss me after that sigh."

Al grinned at the smug tone she used.

"Too bad you're not here." Ellie teased. "Then you could kiss me all you want."

"That bed of yours isn't big enough for you, let alone the two of us." Al laughed. "So what you really mean to say is too bad you aren't here."

"Touché," Ellie laughed, "Guess you'll just have to think about when I won't need to get up so early."

"I won't get anything done with that thought process," Al smiled as his brain replayed the last few days of Ellie being in what he was starting to think of as their flat.

Ellie chuckled. "What a shame."

"I'll live," Al smiled and indulged his brain in what their future held.


	35. Chapter 35

**A/N: And we're back, with two chapters as promised! I'm working hard to make sure that everything goes up when it's supposed to, but I recently became a multi-grade school teacher for the rest of the school year on top of everything else, so be warned that I might not be balancing my plates as well as I think I am. Next chapter should go up on April 25th.**

Somebody should have warned him.

Al reasoned that he knew loads of people who were married. He'd even attended a few of their weddings. And he felt none of them had a valid excuse for not warning him that time went into hyper drive when you were planning a wedding. He barely saw Ellie as she video called her mum constantly, and Al's own mum was seemingly over every other day to take her for "a quick bite and some planning." Al was a bit ashamed of himself for struggling with the realization that all his experiment time was getting wrapped up in wedding planning, which mostly consisted of him listening to Ellie talk about the plans. Honestly, his time tables and his reminders on his phone were the only reasons he stayed on top of his course work that term at all. His experiments were just going to have to wait and he was going to work on being at peace with that.

The next thing Al knew it was April and he was standing in a shop with his dad and brothers getting his suit fitted.

"I wish Allie would have let me wear this for our wedding." Jamie grinned in the mirror. "Suits are much better than traditional dress robes."

Harry raised an eyebrow at his son and looked meaningfully at the Muggles around them.

"Some women take comfort in tradition," Teddy tried to guide the conversation away from murky water. "Johnny already speaks more French than I do and he's barely speaking. Vic likes that she grew up speaking both, and she wants that for our kids too."

Al chuckled as Jamie stuck a hand in his hair, probably trying to phrase his next comment so he didn't break the Statute of Secrecy.

"How is Allie?" Harry took pity on his son or decided it wasn't worth chancing Jamie managing to continue the conversation in their present company. "Is she over the morning sickness?"

Jamie sighed, "Sort of, she doesn't sick up much anymore, but nothing sounds good to her. She's literally having to force herself to eat. Hannah's at her wits end trying to find anything that sounds appetizing to Allie."

"That's rough," Al shook his head, he didn't much care for hearing how hard things were for Allie right now. Come to think of it he didn't like to think about how hard pregnancy was for Vic when she was expecting Johnny or the stories of his mum going through her pregnancies. He hoped it would be easier on El when they got that far. He wasn't suited to watch anyone suffer, let alone Ellie.

The gent helping with his suit turned him toward the mirror and Al stood a little taller as he looked at his reflection.

"You clean up alright, son," Harry chuckled and put a hand on Al's shoulder.

"Now if we can just get Dad's hair to lay flat on our heads." Jamie quipped.

"It's a difficult aesthetic to achieve, believe me, I know." Teddy grinned and shoved a hand in his turquoise hair.

"You alright, Al?"

Al looked over at his dad and nodded. "Just, this all happened fast, you know?"

Harry chuckled, "Well, five months isn't a whole lot of time to begin with Al."

Al rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I get that, but what I'm getting at is that everything between El and I has been moving at a certain rate up until now. I feel like we went from a linear rate to the rate suddenly jumping to an exponential rate and I'm not sure how to handle the change."

"Did you understand anything he just said?" Jamie looked at Teddy.

Al grabbed his phone and pulled up an image of graphed functions.

"I went from that top one on the left to the one in the middle." He passed the phone to Jamie.

Jamie looked at it for a moment before shaking his head. "No, you've always been that middle one."

Al blinked. Was Jamie really trying to argue mathematics with him?

"What?"

"Look at the line thing here," Jamie handed him back the phone. "This middle one you showed me goes up slowly until it crosses this straight line in the center. Then it gets steeper faster."

"Yes James, I understand how exponential functions increase." Al huffed.

"Well, Albus, then you understand that you and Ellie have just recently crossed that straight line in the center." Jamie grinned.

"He has a point," Harry leant closer to look at the screen.

Al looked silently at the fourth quadrant of the graph.

"Look, Al," Ted stepped up behind him, "We all feel nervous this close to our weddings. It's a part of getting married, but don't let it get to you."

Al kept running Jamie's words over in his head as he stared at the graph. Then Jamie's point clicked and Al laughed.

"Jamie, how on earth did you realize that?"

Jamie shrugged. "I make things like that for work. It…" he paused and furrowed his brow. "Well, I mean think about what I do and what the Mugg…what other people who design cars or airplanes do. We're not so different."

"Nice save," Harry murmured quietly.

Al however felt humbled. Jamie designed brooms for Ellerby & Spudmore. Of course he'd understand what the graphs were representing. Wizards did it a bit differently, no surprise considering nothing in their Hogwarts courses even resembled hard mathematics, but Al suddenly realized that of everyone in his family, Jamie was the only one who might actually understand what Al did on a daily basis. He'd of course have to explain it in a way that was catered to Jamie's understanding, but Al did that with Ellie all the time. This would be no different.

"I'm sorry, Jamie," Al gave his brother a smile. "I forget that we grew up some days."

Jamie gave his shoulder a shove as they walked to the back of the shop to change into their street clothes.

"I get it. I mean, I was the co-president of 'club idiot' for a good run there."

Al laughed, "You'll never let me live that down will you?"

"Probably not."

"You already got him back," Teddy chuckled. "That first family dinner with Allie was epic, mostly thanks to your ideas. I just wanted to get him back for giving Vic and me a hard time. You turned it into something to tell their children about."

"Get dressed boys," Harry laughed, "you can reminisce over lunch."

"Your treat boss?" Ted smiled.

Harry rolled his eyes. "I wish you wouldn't call me boss. I changed your nappies, Teddy. Calling me boss is just wrong."

Al shook his head and smiled as he closed the fitting room door. Maybe it was a benefit no one warned him about the way time would run away from him. After all, El always told him anything that brought him closer to people was a good thing. And the short conversation may not have meant much to Jamie, but it really helped Al feel closer to his brother and less like an outlier in their family.

His phone chimed and Al looked down to find Ellie texting him.

**El:** How's it going?

Al grinned as he sent his response.

**Al:** Good, though it is devoid of you, so it isn't as good as it could be.

**El:** Sap.

**Al: **You love it.

**El:** I do.

**Al:** Practice that line.

**El:** You're proving my point.

"Stop texting your fiancé and hurry up," Jamie called out. "Some of us are starving out here."

Al sent one more text before pulling on his trainers.

**Al:** Love you.


	36. Chapter 36

**A/N: FINALLY!**

**A/N: Also, this is not the end!**

"Wow." Al didn't think he could breathe.

"Is it alright?" Ellie spun for him. She'd wanted to see him before the ceremony, but Al hadn't expected her to be in her dress.

Ellie's dress was a stunning combination of her heritage and modern Muggle style. Her white dress was embroidered and beaded with traditional designs in specific patterns. Her dark hair hung in curls around her neck and shoulders and Al honestly thought he might pass out.

"Al?"

Right. Speaking. He could do that. Probably?

"It was a good idea to do this first."

"What?" Ellie laughed.

"I'm, you're, yeah, you get it." Al shoved his hand in his hair and immediately regretted it. His mum was going to sit there and fix it right up to the moment he had to be in place for the ceremony.

Ellie smiled at him though and he immediately forgot about his mum.

"I thought it might help, and I wanted this moment all to myself. Weddings make us share with our friends and families, and I just wanted something from today to be mine."

Al's brain finally started cranking the gears again and he managed to move and pull Ellie against him.

"You are the most gorgeous woman on the face of this planet. Merlin, El, I can barely think right now!"

Ellie's grin went sly, "That was the hope."

"What have I gotten myself into?" Al chuckled as he closed the distance to her perfect lips.

"Mijua'ji'j," Naomi came in with a knowing smile on her face which made Al immediately start redirecting his thoughts from where they'd been.

"Hi Nmi'," Ellie leaned in closer to Al.

"It is time, Mijua'ji'j."

Ellie smiled up at Al, "Time to share, Oqoti."

Al furrowed his brow, "Oqoti?"

"It's like when you call our Ellie 'love,' Albus," Naomi answered. "It's a name for our husbands and our wives. A way to show them we love them."

Al felt the smile grow across his face. "I love it."

"Good," Naomi chuckled, "Now, let's get on with the sharing. I'm sure you'd like to get to the more private part of your wedding day sooner rather than later."

Ellie's laughter was bright and full as Al felt his face burn.

Just a few moments later, and after an exasperated huff from his mum as she fixed his hair, Al finally stood under the little gazebo of the outdoor venue Ellie had wanted, fully aware of all his nervous tics he was giving in to.

"Mate, it's alright." Jamie leaned in closer to him. "She's going to say 'I do,' and you're going to say 'I do,' and then we'll all cheer for you and have a meal and a party. Easy."

Al nodded but he still felt completely out of place in front of his family and members of Ellie's family he'd only just met. He didn't stand well in front of people. He could present in front of people - university had ensured he could do it, even if he didn't care for it. But it was completely different to simply stand in front of a crowd.

"I might need you to tie my hands to my sides," Al mumbled.

"Potter curse, our hair is the first place we try to pull tension from." Jamie put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Don't think about everyone out there. Think about Ellie. What's the best thing she cooks? Or what's the funniest thing she's ever said or done?"

Al chuckled, "She once tried to convince me she had painted this awesome painting of us. Then she pulls it out to show me and it's legitimately just finger painting like Johnny would do."

Jamie laughed. "I like her more now."

"She had me going for a solid 5 minutes before she lost her poker face." Al laughed. "Turned out one of her friends has a niece who sends her paintings."

"Feel better?" Jamie bumped his shoulder.

Al nodded, "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

Jamie went to say more when the music started and Al turned to see the center of his life walking toward him with her hand wrapped around her father's arm.

If planning the wedding had occurred at hyper speed, then the wedding happened in the blink of an eye. Before he knew it, Al was signing his name next to Ellie's in the marriage license after the ceremony. He blinked and they were eating and laughing at the head table. He turned around and they were dancing their first dance. He pushed a hand into his hair and he was waiting for Ellie to change so they could head to the bed and breakfast for the night before they caught their Portkey to their honeymoon.

"Car is all set, Al." Jamie tossed him the keys.

Al chuckled, "You know El's driving."

"Of course I do, but did you see how I managed to make that whole interaction look brilliant?" Jamie put a hand on his shoulder. "Welcome to the club, mate."

"You're not talking about 'Club Idiot' again, are you?" Al groaned.

"Nah," Jamie laughed, "I'm talking about the marriage club."

"As long as you're not talking about a club you use to beat things."

Al grinned at Ellie's voice as she walked up, now changed out of her wedding dress.

Jamie laughed, "I'm glad you'll be around a bit before you two come back here. I'd hate to miss out on your witty comments."

Al handed Ellie the keys and kissed her.

"You ready to get out of here?" He murmured against her.

"Only a lot," she squeezed his hand as she pulled away.

"Then let's get you two on your way." Lisa waved her hand toward where the guests were waiting for them.

As they approached the throng, Al smiled at his family and his in-laws gathered a bit closer.

"We thought we'd see you off here so we could get a word in edgewise." His dad grinned at him.

Lily let go of Lysander's hand long enough to hug Al and Ellie before attaching herself back to him.

"Have fun, we'll see you once you're home."

Al chuckled, "You sure you'll have time for us amid your busy new schedule?"

"I'll talk to Dad," Lysander grinned, "he'll give us enough time to visit with family."

"Don't forget about us here," John kissed Ellie's cheek. "We want visits too, especially now that you don't work or go to university."

"Sharing is going to be hard," Ginny laughed as she pulled them into a tight hug.

"Let them go," Naomi chuckled. "They will always come back to each of us. It's in their blood to do so."

"Thank you, everyone," Ellie kissed her mum on the cheek. "This has been amazing!"

"It really has," Al smiled. "Thank you."

"Get out of here!" Jamie gave them a shove. "Mum wants more grandchildren."

Al rolled his eyes but happily pulled Ellie forward. Less than a minute later, he was in the car with El as they drove away from the crowd.

"How in the world do we know so many people?" Al leaned back in his seat and rolled the window down.

Ellie laughed, "We just left our wedding and that's what you're worried about?"

Al grinned, "I'm not worried about anything to do with our wedding or you being my wife."

"I'm so glad."

Ellie's right hand moved to rest in his leg and he intertwined his fingers over hers.

"So really," Al pressed, "how do we know so many people?"

Ellie was quiet a beat before laughing.

"I have no idea. But, Merlin, Al, there were so many people there tonight!"

Then she moved their intertwined hands up his leg, "Thankfully, it's finally just the two of us."

Al squeezed her hand and moved it closer to his knee.

"Yes, but I will jump you, driving or not, if you keep that up."

Ellie bit her lip, "Promise?"


	37. Chapter 37

**A/N: I need more hours in the day. Here's to hoping we all get a few more as summer comes closer. If all goes according to plan I should have the next chapter up on May 2nd. **

"Are you ready, love?" Ellie called from their sitting room.

Al smiled. Being married to Ellie had been wonderful for so many reasons but Al's favorite was that she was in the same flat as him, permanently.

"I think I am," Al came out of their bedroom and threw on the blazer Ellie had picked out for him.

Apparently, that was the right move to make because Ellie immediately made her way to his side and began kissing him.

"Hi," Al chuckled when she pulled back just enough for them to catch their breath.

"You shouldn't be allowed to look so good." Ellie bit down on his lip.

Al stole a kiss before responding. "I'll remind you that you chose this outfit for me."

"Call me a glutton for punishment then," El moved one of her hands up to his hair. "Besides, you can't tell me you don't like the attention."

Al hummed as her fingers tightened their grip in his hair. "I'm rather fond of it, but if we're going to make it out of here, this should probably be put on hold."

"Always the voice of reason," El gave him a pout.

Al kissed her again, "Just a bit more sharing, and then you have me all to yourself aside from class and experimenting."

"You're such a workhorse," Ellie laughed but pulled away to grab her white sweater. "But you're right. Aunt Susan and Uncle Charlie put a lot of effort into this, we should at least be on time to it."

Al grabbed her around the waist for one more kiss before they set out to Apparate to the alley near the diner.

Al was pleased to see his parents climbing out of the Carrera a way down from the diner as he and El walked around the corner.

"You found it," he called out to them as his dad shut the passenger door behind his mom.

"We did, though the GPS thought we wanted the next street over for a moment there." Harry laughed and took Ginny's hand.

"I'm telling you, love, it wanted us to go to that little Indian place I saw the sign for." Ginny pulled Al and Ellie into a hug.

"It was tempting, but I thought we ought to settle for some traditional fare today while we celebrated with our kids and their friends."

"There's an Indian place down there?" Ellie asked. "I've lived here for four years and I didn't know that."

"You were sort of busy," Al led them all to the door that had changed everything.

But while the first time Al walked in that door it was for a quick moment to warm up, this time he welcomed the cool air inside and a promised evening full of friends that had been a part of his life for the last four years.

Susan hustled out of the kitchen and smiled brightly. "There's the beautiful bride!"

Ellie moved out from under Al's arm and hugged her aunt.

"Aunt Susan, this looks amazing!" Ellie gestured to the trays of food lining the bar. "Thank you so much!"

Susan beamed, "Well your uncle is hoping your friends will get the word around about how good the food is and drum up some new customers."

"If we open the door and let the aroma out into the street that would probably work too." Ginny chuckled.

"You're too kind, Ginny." Susan looked down at her watch before taking in a sharp breath. "Charlie's going to need a hand in a moment. We'll be out here for good at the top of the hour. Till then, just give a shout if you need something."

"Thank you," Al nodded as Susan scurried back to the kitchen.

"Here are the printed photos your parents and we liked best," Harry pulled an envelope from his mokeskin pouch and handed it to Ellie before pulling out a roll of tape as well. "We thought they could be taped up on the far wall back there."

"I love it!" Ellie took the envelope and tape excitedly and moved to the back wall, Ginny trailing along behind her.

Al took a seat and watched his wife and mum tape still wedding images of him and El up on the wall.

"When does it start to feel real?" Al turned to his dad.

"Which part?" Harry grinned.

"That the wedding actually happened. That I'm not just in a really good dream. That I'm not going to wake up and be back at square one."

"I'll let you know when I find out." Harry teased.

Al rolled his eyes but was surprised when his dad continued with a more serious tone.

"There are still days that I wonder what in the world I did to get your mum to even acknowledge my existence, let alone marry me. But I've been living in this dream for more than three decades now and it's still going. It is my reality, even when logic says it shouldn't be, and I can trust that."

Al let his dad's words process for a moment.

"This is what growing up is, isn't it? You keep pushing forward even when it's hard, even when everything says you shouldn't be where you are, you keep moving forward and living your life, dream and all."

"Even if the dream has it's scary moments as well," Harry put a hand on Al's shoulder, "if you keep pushing through, you'll end up back in the happy parts. Remember, there are good things now, and there are better things to come. Don't give up on them when life gets tough. Keep moving forward, together, and one day you'll be giving this speech to your son or daughter."

Al chuckled, "That feels light-years away."

"Don't blink then," Harry smirked.

The bell sounded as the door opened behind them. "Who's ready for a party?!"

Al turned to find Craig waking up and smiled. This was definitely going to be a fun night.

And it was. Al was surprised at how much fun it was to have this Muggle celebration and El by his side through the whole thing.

But what made the whole thing even better, was going home with Ellie, and sliding into their flat as she pushed his blazer off his shoulders, pressing her against their bed and finally falling asleep curled against one another.

It was a dream, and Al was determined to live in it for the rest of his life.


	38. Chapter 38

**A/N: Thanks, everyone, for understanding the late posting. My kid is fine now, and gorging on ice cream on the couch next to me, because I'm that mom. (For those who don't follow me on Tumblr, my children were being rambunctious and bookshelf edges are sharp, and we ended up in the urgent care right as I pulled out my laptop to start posting. :p )**

**A/N: Assuming no other freak accidents, I'll post again on May 9th.**

They settled into a routine once summer courses started up. Ellie painted and worked to get her artwork into galleries. Al went to class and worked on his coursework. It ended up being a peaceful and content term filled with the newlywed bliss that Al had expected and been teased would be his reality.

But during the break between summer term and Al's final term began Uncle George popped over because he was "in the neighborhood."

Shite.

"It's good to see you, George." Ellie moved a canvas still in it's wrapping off of the sofa.

"Is something wrong with the line?" Al cut right to the point.

George huffed, "You're absolutely ruthless, you know?"

"George, you never come into the Muggle world without a purpose."

"Fine," George moved to sit on the edge of the sofa. "How are things coming on the next iteration of the Potterbox? Do you think it can be finished in time for the Christmas line?"

Al blanched.

"George, Al will let you know when it's ready." Ellie's voice had an edge to it. "Next time, text him and he'll let you know one way or the other."

George shook his head, "I'm no good at the texting. It's easier to just show up and ask in person."

"You could call then," Ellie moved back to the large painting table Al had bought her before they moved all her things in. "I assume you do know how to punch ten digits."

George blinked, and Al finally recovered from the initial anxiety that had seized him.

"It's fine, just, George, I'm not anywhere close to giving you the next iteration of the Potterbox, and I warned you of that last year."

George nodded, "Yes, I know, but I'm getting the preliminary meetings set up for the Christmas line and wanted to know if I needed to include you in it." Then George turned to Ellie. "I wasn't trying to impose on you."

Ellie huffed, "You do realize how much you stress him out with this right?"

"Ellie, love," Al cut in, "I'm alright."

"You went into freeze; you most certainly were not alright."

"I think I'll leave the two of you to sort through this," George stood and pulled Floo powder from his pocket. "I'll wait for you to contact me about the next iteration."

"George, wait," Al grabbed his arm. "I'm working on it, please don't think I'm not."

George smiled at him, "Let me know if you need anything, or if you improve the process for our current iteration. We could get you a greater profit margin if you cut down the cost of production."

"I'll text Ron and set up a time to come in and talk to the two of you." Al let his hand drop from his uncle's arm.

"I look forward to it, Al." George smiled at him before stepping through the grate.

Once the grate had ceased to burn green, Al turned to find Ellie staring him down with her grizzly bear stare.

"Where does he come off?"

Al stared back at her, incredulous. "He's the whole reason you get to paint all day."

Ellie bristled, "No, you are. You could have sold the Potterbox without him."

"Right," Al snorted, "I forgot that I'm going on to get my MBA in both marketing and sales once I've graduated with two bachelor's degrees."

"You're upset," Ellie turned away from him. "When you've calmed down, we can talk about it."

"You're upset too," Al shot back, "so don't throw all of this on me."

"I'm not," Ellie spun back around, "I am upset, at George for showing up and throwing you into an anxiety attack!"

"He didn't throw me into an anxiety attack!"

"Yes, he did!"

"Just because he took me off guard doesn't mean I had an anxiety attack!"

Ellie glared at him. "Fine, deny it."

Al shoved his hand in his hair. "I've got a paper to finish."

Then he stalked into their room and his desk. But he didn't get anything done. Instead, he sat and brewed in his anger. Just because he was easily taken by surprise didn't mean he constantly had anxiety attacks, or that he couldn't handle his own damn uncle on his own. He cringed with embarrassment at how rude Ellie had been to George.

Al grabbed his phone to try and distract himself with something, anything really when it rang in his hand with a number Al didn't recognize.

"Hello?"

"Get your arse down here and meet your niece!" Jamie shouted into the phone and laughed. "We're in room 634, just tell them your name and they'll let you in."

The line went dead.

Well, Al would just have to put his marital problems on hold for a moment and go be an uncle.

The thought of him having marital problems already left him feeling mildly sick.

"El," he stepped out and holstered his wand, "Allie had the baby. Jamie just called and told me to get ourselves down there."

Ellie smiled, "Let's go."

She summoned her sweater to her and then twisted her wand up into her hair. The image made Al's chest hurt. Why did they have to do this now? Why couldn't they have the time to fix things first?

But then they were grabbing Floo powder and flying through the network to St. Mungo's. The elevator ride up to the new sixth-floor maternity ward (Aunt Hermione had made so many changes that Al honestly didn't know how she managed to be at all the family gatherings) was silent and Al felt more awkward and upset than he did before Jamie called with the happy news.

"Oh good!" Al stepped out of the elevator to see Grandma Andromeda. "James was starting to forget who he had and who he hadn't called."

"Are we the last ones to make it?" Ellie asked.

"No, Lily and Lysander haven't made it yet, but Teddy and Victoire and Johnny are in with your parents and the Longbottom's." Andromeda smiled at Al.

They followed her down the corridor and into Room 634.

Even with how upset he still felt, Al had to smile when they walked into a room that only lacked Lily and Lysander. Allie's little sisters were standing next to the bed with Hannah and Neville behind them. Al's parents and the Lupins were opposite them, and Jamie had managed to squeeze in next to Allie and the baby on the bed.

"See, I told you I called Al!" Jamie pointed at them. "I told you!"

Harry chuckled, "No one doubted you, son."

"Want to hold her?" Allie held the baby up toward Ellie.

"Yes!" Ellie rushed over and Al just watched as his wife took this little girl in her arms.

And for a moment, time stood still.

Seeing Ellie beaming down at this tiny little girl, smiling down at her new niece like she was the sun, her wand twisted up in her hair, it left Al mesmerized by the image of it and paralyzed by the feelings it pulled forward.

Lily and Lysander showed up shortly after that, and Ellie relinquished her turn to Lily. But as she returned to Al's side, he knew he needed to work this out with her. He wanted to really enjoy this moment, and he wanted to do it with her.

"Jamie, have you eaten?" Al looked at his brother.

"Eaten?" Jamie blinked at him and Al chuckled.

"I'm going to grab you something, does anyone else want anything?"

Harry reached into his Auror robes and tossed Al a pouch. "Grab drinks and some bakery items for everyone, son."

Al caught the pouch and then turned to Ellie.

"Want to come with me? Help me carry things?" He held out his hand and held his breath.

Ellie nodded and took his hand, "Of course."

He wasn't sure how to start this, and so the silence that had followed them up the elevator followed them down to the fifth floor.

"El," he finally managed to say something as they walked out of the elevator.

"Al," she looked down at her feet.

"I'm sorry for getting so upset. I felt embarrassed and I didn't handle it well."

"I'm sorry for being so protective," Ellie squeezed his hand. "I just hate seeing anyone make you uncomfortable and I felt like George watched you grow up and should know better. I shouldn't have been rude to him over it."

Al pulled her closer and kissed her hairline. "I love you."

"I love you too," Ellie smiled up at him. "And I'll do better to tune down the bear in me."

Al chuckled, "So you agree that it's a bear that you embody when you get upset?"

"Oh yes, Nmi' has told me that my whole life. She always says God pity anyone who goes after my children."

Al laughed out loud. "You looked pretty amazing holding our niece."

"It felt pretty amazing." Ellie leaned into his shoulder.

"Are we alright, then?"

"Yeah, I think so, but I'd like to prolong the make-up just a bit." She looked up at him and winked.

Al chuckled, "You wouldn't be mine if you didn't."

Ellie laughed, "And you wouldn't be mine if I didn't have the assurance you could deliver on that."

Al nearly choked on air right as the witch behind the counter asked what she could get them.

Merlin, she was going to be the death of him!


	39. Chapter 39

**A/N: We're quickly approaching the end of this little novel here. And as we wind down, I just wanted to say thank you to all of you who have supported this story of mine. I'm so happy you've enjoyed this obscure little ship of mine. I'll post again on May 16th. =)**

Al walked out of class but he hadn't really heard anything in the entire lecture.

He had an idea.

The professor had said something completely unrelated to his experimenting, but it had caused several things to click in Al's head and he'd checked out of the lecture after that, his brain and notebook dedicated to solving the problem that he'd spent the majority of his life trying to rectify.

It was complex, complex in ways that made the current Potterbox look like child's play, but Al thought that just maybe, he was finally on to the solution.

And then his phone rang.

"Jamie? Is everything alright?"

"Aside from how exhausted Allie and I are, yes." Jamie chuckled.

"Oh," Al tried to get his brain back into the realm of social interaction, "Good. So, what's up?"

"I want to have lunch with you. I need to remember there's life outside of children."

Al laughed. "Sure, when?"

"Got plans now? I can pop wherever you want to be."

Al pushed away his annoyance. He'd been planning to skive off classes for the rest of the day to work on actually making Muggle tech and magic play nicely together. But he could put his inventing on hold long enough to have lunch with his brother. He could be bigger than the idea.

"Er, yeah, sure. Just pop over to that alley behind my flat. I'll meet you there and we can go grab something."

"Thanks, mate, I'll see you in a sec."

Al took a deep breath. He could do this. He could be present. He could have control over himself. At the very least, he could try.

Al popped into the alley behind his flat and found Jamie waiting for him.

"Thanks," Jamie smiled, "I know you're busy but I really appreciate you indulging me."

"Little Sarah driving you round the bend then?" Al chuckled.

"Let's get food, then we can talk about it."

"What do you want?"

"Indian, I need comfort food without making Dad cook for us."

Al laughed, "I know just the place. Not quite as good as Dad's but a close second."

"Good," Jamie stepped up next to him, "take us away."

Al popped them over to the Indian place their mum had spotted the night of his and Ellie's 'Muggle celebration.' Once they'd settled in and placed their orders, Al pushed Jamie a bit further as to why exactly he'd pushed for lunch immediately.

"So, having Sarah home is an adjustment?"

"She's brilliant," Jamie smiled. "I mean, she looks like us, I know that when you have kids, that tends to be the majority, but I didn't realize how I'd feel seeing pieces of myself and Allie in her, and she's so small, and she loves to be held, and I just, there's this feeling when I hold her that's, I don't know, it's brilliant..."

"Alright…" Al waited.

"And," Jamie sighed, "and it's a little overwhelming. She _needs_ me and Allie. Legitimately _needs_ us in that she'll die without us, and I just…" He shoved his hand into his hair. "I don't think I was ready for this feeling."

Al blinked. "You do realize that Dad or Ted would have been the better people to have lunch with, right?"

Jamie shook his head, "No. They both would tell me that it gets easier as you go or that I'll be alright. But you don't do stuff like that. You help people fix things. And I need _you_ right now, not reassurance."

Al was stunned. He had no idea how to fix this.

Wait. He helped people fix things?

He thought about it, and the more he did, the more Al realized that Jamie was right. He did like to fix problems. From his family to his friends to his inventing, he'd been helping people fix their problems and fixing things his whole life.

"Alright," Al smiled. "I'll give it my best shot."

Jamie visibly relaxed, "Thanks, mate. I owe you one."

Their server set down their samosas and Al indulged in the start of their order as he asked his first question.

"The problem is feeling overwhelmed then?"

"I guess," Jamie responded through a mouthful of food. "I think the overwhelming feeling might be a conglomerate of a bunch of things."

"Let's talk through those then." Al nodded. "I suppose let's start with what has you so worried that she has a physical need of you and Allie?"

Jamie snorted. "You did grow up with me, right?"

Al chuckled, "Yes, but I think it would do you well to say it out loud."

Jamie rested his head in his hands and looked down at his plate while he spoke.

"I'm a shite example for a little girl, Al. I'm impulsive and rude and honestly a bit boorish. What business do I have in raising a little girl?"

Al frowned. "Jamie, you're too hard on yourself. Sure, you have your character defects, we all do, but I think that the fact that you care so much about this is a pretty good indicator that you'll be a fine father."

"I don't know," Jamie shook his head.

"Well," Al thought harder, "what sort of person would be a good father for Sarah?"

Jamie looked up at him. "What do you mean?"

"What would you need to change to be the father you want to be? Who do you want to be for Sarah?"

Jamie was silent for a long time before he spoke. "See this is why I came to you."

Al chuckled as their server set down his vegetable biryani. "I'm glad, now stop avoiding the question."

Jamie avoided it longer by digging into his butter chicken.

"I suppose," he started as he took a drink, "I suppose I want her to have a dad that's in control of himself. I want to be able to stop my worst character traits. I want to be someone she can be proud of. I want to be someone who listens to other people. I want to be the man that teaches her what to look for in other men, whether it's romantically or just as a friend. And I want her to always feel like she can depend on me the way she does now."

Al smiled. "Now we're getting somewhere. We should make a list of the things you want to change and then we should order it from easiest to change to hardest to change. As you do each thing, you snowball through the list, and over time you become the dad you want to be."

"You make this sound incredibly easy." Jamie chuckled.

"The planning is always easy," Al huffed as he shoved his hand into his hair, "It's the follow-through and the process that's hard."

"You alright?" Jamie frowned.

"Yeah, I think I might have figured out something to make everything work so that our phones work no matter where we are."

"That's brilliant!" Jamie grinned.

"Assuming it works, yes," Al sighed, "But the testing and the figuring are going to be a nightmare. Especially since George and Ron will need me to make it in a way that can be mass-produced."

"Want to talk through it?" Jamie asked. "I don't need to be back to the office for a while. I could help."

Al almost said no; he almost waved the offer away in preference for continuing to fix Jamie's problem. But then he remembered his realization when they were getting their suits fitted. If anyone in his family could help, it would be Jamie.

So, he swallowed his pride.

"Actually, yeah, if you don't mind, that would be really helpful."

"Great!" Jamie grinned. "That list you want me to make would probably be best to make with Allie anyway. Though I might run it by you once we've finished it."

Al chuckled, "I'm here if you need me."

"Brilliant," Jamie pulled off a chunk of naan, "Now, tell me about this potential next step."

It took some extra explaining, and some repetition, but Al managed to bring Jamie up to speed with exactly where things stood with the current Potterbox and his idea to hopefully break through the wall that he'd been stuck at for over a year.

"I don't know if magic actually is as sporadic as you think it is." Jamie shook his head as he spoke quietly. "Think about how a broom flies, when I'm casting the enchantments on our brooms, I'm telling the broom to pull magic in a way that propels it either forward or backward or sideways. I think magic is a bit more directional like your wi-fi waves are."

Al frowned, "But it worked, a while ago, to pull magic from individual points in space."

"Well, sure, because you were thinking about it on a super tiny scale. But maybe this doesn't have to be thought about on a small scale. Maybe you think about it as magic moving in waves or straight lines or what have you on a larger scale. You basically want the Muggle mesh and the magic mesh to interact together, rather than against each other. So maybe you find a way to get the two to run together or something."

Al looked down at the napkins he'd been drawing on. "Wait, say that again."

Jamie pointed to one of the drawings, "You said the wi-fi and the cell service make a sort of mesh and I think magic does too, so figure out how to make them mesh in the same pattern. Maybe not across the world, but definitely where they hit the technology and where they leave it."

"Merlin, Jamie, you're brighter than you let on."

Jamie grinned, "Don't out my secret."

"Would you want to help me with this at all? Maybe stop by after work and we can look into it. Or we could have you and Allie and Sarah over for lunch or something on a weekend and you and I can try to sort this out."

"Yeah," Jamie nodded. "Let me talk to Allie tonight and then I'll call you. We could definitely figure this out!"

Al looked up at his brother and grinned, "I actually think we can."


	40. Chapter 40

**A/N: I'll post again on May 23rd. Enjoy!**

"Aren't they coming today?"

Al kissed up Ellie's neck and hummed, "Around noon."

"It's already ten, love." She smiled up at him.

"That's two hours, we've plenty of time." Al kissed her long and slow.

"I still have to make lunch for the four of us." Ellie murmured as her fingers tangled in his hair.

"We'll order take away," Al moved one of his hands to card through her dark hair.

Ellie smirked, "I'm going to log that information for a rainy day. It's good to know that I can get out of cooking this way."

"Lucky you," Al laughed before kissing her again.

True to his word, Al ordered take away and had it delivered a full fifteen minutes before Jamie and Allie and Sarah were to Floo over.

"Are you going to be alright with just Allie?" He asked El as he set a warming charm over the food.

"Sure," Ellie shrugged, "I like to talk to people, and Allie is family. Plus, Sarah is adorable and I'm hoping to get some snuggle time."

Al chuckled. "Have we been married long enough for me to use the term broody?"

Ellie blinked at him and frowned. "Broody?"

Al mimicked her frown. For the most part, Ellie seemed to know all of the terms he used. Lisa was British, and Ellie had been here for almost five years now.

"You know; it's when a person wants to have a baby."

"Oh," Ellie chuckled, "that's a strange way to say it."

"How do you say it?" Al relaxed at the sound of her laughter.

"I've always called it "baby fever" which, I'll add, sounds a right side better than using the same term that means to think about things that make you unhappy."

El stuck her tongue out at him and Al laughed at her.

"No, it's referring to the way we call a group of baby birds a brood."

Ellie rolled her eyes, "That's so much better."

Al laughed and pulled her into him, "Don't pretend, I know you love all our slang and our accent and you've sworn off all your contaminated Canadian English."

Ellie gave him a half-hearted shove and smirked up at him. "Think so, eh? I'll make a Canuk of you yet."

Al grinned, "I think that might be the first time I've heard you say "eh" in the whole time I've known you."

Ellie winked at him, "All sorts of fun things for you to discover about me, isn't there? Especially when I'm back in St. John's and don't have to worry about being teased for saying "eh" all the time."

Al leant in to kiss that smug smile she wore when the fireplace burned green.

"Something smells amazing!" Hannah stepped out holding Sarah close to her chest.

"It really does," Jamie stepped out holding Sarah's bag of necessities. "I think we're being bribed."

"Exactly," Ellie nodded before smirking at Al and in a lower voice added, "in a roundabout sort of way."

Al forced down his laughter and instead moved to unpack their food.

"Let's eat, then you can determine if it was enough of a bribe to stay and help me work on changing the world."

Thankfully it was, at least Jamie didn't leave once lunch was over.

But after four hours of working through the stack of phones and Potterbox cases that he had for them to break, Al wasn't sure if Jamie would be coming back.

"I'm sorry, I know this was kind of a waste of your time." Al started cleaning up his desk.

Jamie stared at him, "Do you normally have things work out the first day you try them?"

"Well, no," Al stuck his hand in his hair.

"Al, do you realize that this is my job too, just with brooms instead of Muggle technology, right?"

Jamie smirked at him as Al let his hand fall from his hair.

"I guess I hadn't thought of it that way."

"Look," Jamie put a hand on his shoulder, "I know that the extended family sometimes make you feel isolated because they can't relate to your Muggleness, but you're really not that different from the rest of us. You've just chosen a career that includes things they've never done before."

Al rubbed a hand over his face, "How come you're so full of wisdom today?"

Jamie laughed, "I'm always full of wisdom, you know that."

"Fine," Al rolled his eyes, "Why are you so full of useful and relevant wisdom today?"

"I didn't want you to run away to Canada feeling like you're separated from the family." Jamie shrugged. "You don't need to feel isolated from us emotionally as well as by physical distance. I've found that the physical distance is a lot easier to overcome than the emotional kind."

"Thanks," Al smiled at his brother, "really, I appreciate it."

"Sure thing," Jamie picked up his notebook. "I'll be back next week. And I'll be back again Saturday, and again after that, until we've got this figured out."

And he was. Jamie showed up every Saturday after that, sometimes with his girls and sometimes on his own. Over those weeks of working together, Al realized that Jamie was right. He wasn't really all that different from Jamie, or anyone else in his family.

It wasn't too long after that, just a week or two before finals, that their breakthrough came. It wasn't in time for the Wheezes Christmas line, and it wasn't ready to be applied to an assembly line style of production, but Al could have cared less as he and Jamie shot sparks into the air as they talked on their phones at the same time.

"You did it, mate!" Jamie pumped his fist into the air.

Al smiled as the elation coursed through him, "No, we did it."

Jamie paused his celebration and gave Al a shrug of his shoulders. "Thanks, Al."


	41. Chapter 41

**A/N: Today's the day my friends. These two chapters today are the end. We've reached the conclusion of this story, and I want to thank every one of you that has taken the time to read this obscure little ship of mine. It's been so fun to have you follow along as I discovered and developed this story from a one-shot that ThisIsMegz requested to this little novel when she asked to know how Al and Ellie got together. I hope you've had fun. I hope you've laughed. I hope you've felt connected to Al and Ellie in some way. And I hope you know how grateful I am for you coming along with me. Thank you.**

"You're here!" Lily flew into his arms and Al just barely caught her as she wrapped her arms around him and Ellie.

"I think the stranger part is _you're_ here." Al laughed.

"There are magical creatures everywhere, you know that." Lily pulled away and stepped back into Lysander's embrace.

"I'd love to know more about what you're studying specifically here on the Rock." Ellie took Al's hand.

"We could bring you back to our tent and show you what images we've been able to capture so far," Lysander replied.

Ellie looked up at Al with a bright smile. "Do we have time?"

Al kissed her. "Of course, we do, we're starting all the house hunting tomorrow. Today is ours."

Ellie took Lily's hand. "Take us away, Lily!"

Al had taken his last final that morning. He was officially finished with university and had set everything up to start house hunting with Ellie in Newfoundland the next morning. It had been a happy surprise that Lily and Lysander happened to be studying some of the magical creatures in Newfoundland at the same time.

He still had a lot to work out with Jamie to get their new Potterbox ready for an assembly line production but Al was confident that they'd be able to make that happen with a few Portkey trips. He'd just call it a business expense and bill it to Wizard Weasley Wheezes. That thought had made Jamie laugh for some reason.

But Al was more concerned with his promise to Ellie to have her home as close to Christmas as he could manage. And that meant as soon as he didn't need to physically be in England, they were in St. John's.

Lysander and Lily's tent was far more than Al expected. He'd heard stories of Aunt Luna and Uncle Rolf going on expeditions and they'd more or less been Muggle camping from what he understood. This tent felt more like an upgrade from the tent they'd taken to the World Cup when he was a boy.

"You look surprised," Lily chuckled as Lysander started showing Ellie all the creatures that they'd documented.

"This isn't what I remember Aunt Luna explaining." Al chuckled.

"Yeah, but I'm not Aunt Luna, and Lysander isn't Uncle Rolf."

"So, a more accommodating experience then?"

"Well, more like a more permanent experience." Lily grinned and moved to sit down.

"Really?" Al chuckled and followed Lily to the sitting area, "How permanent are we talking here?"

"Well," Lily smiled over at Lysander, "until we're buying a home together, this is a pretty nice place."

"I'm really happy for you Lils," Al smiled, "I'm curious though, how did Lorcan take all this?"

Lily laughed, "Would you believe he was relieved?"

"Really? Relieved?"

Lily nodded. "He was really worried that he'd burned bridges between me and his family. Don't get me wrong, it was a little awkward the first time I went as Lys' girlfriend, but Lorcan seems alright with it, and it's been a lot of fun to get to spend time with Aunt Luna without feeling like there's a cloud over me."

"And you're happy?"

"I am," Lily smiled, "I'm really happy."

Al wrapped an arm around her shoulders, "Then I'm happy for you. And maybe use that tent as a good excuse to come and visit now and again?"

"You got it Al," Lily wrapped her arms around his neck.

The next day's house hunting went slowly, as did the next week's, and the next, and Al was reluctant to admit that they were probably not going to find something before Christmas.

"I didn't want it to go this way." Al sighed as he and Ellie climbed into bed in Ellie's old room.

"I know, love," Ellie snuggled against him, "but don't worry, the right house will come up when it's supposed to. And we still have our flat until June. We'll be alright."

Returning to their flat felt like failure. He'd made grand statements of having Ellie home for Christmas, and now they were spending Christmas Eve with his family and catching a Portkey the next morning for St. John's to spend Christmas Day with his in-laws because there was no house of their own to go home to.

"Everything alright, son?" Harry put a strong hand on Al's shoulder and for a moment, Al felt just a little bit better.

"I've let Ellie down," He sighed.

"How so?" Harry sat down at the kitchen table with him.

"I told her I'd have her home by Christmas." Al shook his head. "And unless I can buy a house in thirty hours, I've failed."

Harry was quiet for a moment before looking back into the sitting room where Ellie was playing with Johnny.

"She doesn't look like she feels let down."

"It's one of the things I love about Ellie," Al smiled as he watched her, "She is resilient in ways that make my head spin."

Harry chuckled, "She is, but that isn't what I was getting at. Ellie knows you're going to live in St. John's or thereabout as soon as you can, and she trusts that is going to happen."

"I suppose," Al shook his head and looked down at the table.

"What advice of your father's are you rejecting?"

Al looked back up in time to see his mum slide into the seat across from him.

"I let Ellie down, I didn't get us a house in Newfoundland before Christmas."

Ginny patted his arm, "Did you let Ellie down, or yourself down?"

Al paused and looked up at her. "What?"

"Who did you really let down? You or your wife?" Ginny held his gaze.

"I…" Al swallowed, "I guess, I guess both?"

"But your wife looks quite happy this Christmas Eve."

Al groaned and his dad chuckled. "Sometimes it really sucks when you realize what being a chip off the old block actually means."

"So, I'm actually upset because I let myself down, not because El is upset?"

"Most likely," Harry handed him a Christmas cookie.

Al took the excuse to think a little harder about what his mum had said and bit off a chunk of the cookie.

"I think that you're right, and I think part of it too is realizing that this is the end of one chapter and the beginning of another chapter, you know?"

"Very insightful, dear," Ginny took his hand, "but you know you are always welcome home. And your dad and I weren't kidding, we most definitely will be looking into vacation homes in St. John's once summer rolls around. Maybe one that comes with a property manager, that way it's lived in when the family isn't using it."

"Really?" Al felt his chest warm at his mother's words.

"Al, you're our son," Harry threw his arm around Al's shoulders, "and we will always want to have the ability to be around you and to support you."

"And I'm rather fond of grandchildren," Ginny winked at him.

Al turned back to look at Ellie as she let Johnny give her a kiss on the cheek. "Don't worry, Mum, I think Ellie's on the same brainwave as you are."

They didn't get a house before Christmas, and they didn't find one in January either. But Al realized that letting one chapter end and another begin, well it wasn't as simple as ending a chapter and beginning another in a novel or a screenplay. Real-life transitions happened, for the most part, gradually.

But in late February, as he held Ellie's hand in a home that had been listed that day, Al felt like the transition was finally coming to an end.

"It's perfect!" Ellie looked out at the play set in the back garden. "Right?" She looked at him.

Al didn't even care that their listing agent was standing not twenty feet away. He closed the few inches between them and pulled her into him, kissing her soundly.

"It is. It's absolutely perfect."


	42. Chapter 42

Ellie looked out the window for the fifth time that day. He'd set off the wards when he got back, and he promised to text her. She should probably stop watching for him. So, she turned to watch their daughters playing out back while her mind wandered.

She liked to let her mind wander; it usually took her to wonderful ideas to explore in her paintings.

Al had been gone for two weeks. He'd been at a special conference for the Wizarding World, pushing for them to start embracing a culture that interacted and cooperated with Muggles. Bringing back the old ways, as Nmi' liked to call it.

Her husband had managed to do some pretty amazing things in the ten years they'd been married. She could open up a laptop and a hotspot on her phone in Diagon Alley and do just about anything she wanted to. Ellie smiled at the memory of doing exactly that while she had waited for Al to get out of a meeting with the Wizengamot a few years back. The younger generation seemed to agree with the progress Al was working towards, and it helped that George and Ron sold phones now, not just the Potterbox line.

Newfoundland was a bit of a guinea pig in all of this. The Elders thought what Al was doing was needed, and much of what Al wanted they pushed to accomplish in the magical community here at home. Some of the more traditional members of the community held strong, but a lot of the people she'd grown up with felt Al was on the right track.

Her phone buzzed and Ellie grinned at the text message.

**Al: T-minus 5 minutes.**

Their girls were having fun and playing well, so Ellie determined she would just let them be and she moved to the front porch to watch him appear behind the tall evergreen trees in front of their home.

She adjusted one of her paintings on the way out, the girls loved to touch them. As long as they weren't touching the ones that were going in her gallery that was fine, but Al liked them level.

Ellie took a deep breath and bit her lip as she waited for him to appear. She looked at her phone again, two minutes left. Two weeks was too long. They'd come with him next time. She'd check the girls out of school and they'd stay with Harry and Ginny and make a vacation of it.

Ellie looked at her phone again, one minute left. She took her wand out of its necklace and twisted it into her hair. Al loved it when she did that, and she really wanted an enthusiastic greeting.

And then the wards went off and Ellie ran towards the spot that Al landed as he dropped his bags and wrapped her up in his arms. He was home!

His lips claimed hers in that way that made her spine tingle and one of his hands came to cup the back of her neck, tilting her face to give him better access to her mouth.

"I missed you," she murmured between kisses.

"Merlin, I missed you too, El." He started to kiss down her neck and Ellie melted into him. Pulling her hair up had been the right choice.

"The girls are around back," she let her hands tangle in his hair and smiled when his green eyes looked back at her with mischief.

"Are you asking me to stop?"

Ellie bit her lip and took a deep breath. "Well, not really, but they've missed you too, and I have something to tell you before I can tell them."

Al straightened; concern written all over his face. "Is everything alright?"

Ellie let her hand rest on her abdomen and smiled at the sight of it.

"More than," she looked back at her husband, "Al, we're going to have another baby."

The look of concern that had crossed his face was gone in an instant replaced by a broad smile and then he was kissing her and holding her and spinning her around their front yard.

This is why she'd waited thirteen days to tell him. She wanted him to hold her and kiss her and spin her around just like he had with their first two.

"How do you want to tell the girls?" Al finally asked as he set her down on the ground again.

"I want you to tell them," Ellie smiled up at him. "And then I want to put them to bed just a little bit early."

Al laughed and picked up his bags before taking her hand. "Let's get to it then, I brought them home George and Ron's new video game prototype to try out."

Ellie laughed, "They're going to be glued to the television for the rest of the week."

Al kissed her, "Maybe, just for a day or two, but is it such a bad thing if it gives us a few hours to ourselves?"

"I suppose not." And she kissed him.

**A/N: Till the next story my friends. :)**


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